Master of the Dark
by StarLion
Summary: "Will it ever st-..." The tower calls for Sora, it will not stop. Dark and looming, it offers him great power, but is it an offer he can't refuse? Forced to abandon his friends, thrown to the mercy of strange people in a harsh new world, will he survive?
1. Chapter 1

Author's Notes:

Well, here we are, yet another story from me. One of these days I'll finish one before moving onto the next.  
I figure at this point, a quick explanation of something in the story is needed here, namely, what an Arcology is - I've no doubt a good number of people don't know.  
As I know it, an Arcology is essentially a city that grew upwards in a single tower, instead of outwards. A self contained city, all in one massive tower. Now you know.  
Explanation over... this is my first Kingdom Hearts story, focused mainly on Sora. Considering I've only ever played one of the Kingdom Hearts games (Chain of Memories, and never got far at that) this is likely to have a few potential mistakes in here and there. However, with the help of someone who's a lot more knowledgeable than I, hopefully you'll miss most of it before it gets here.

Right, enough rambling with me, on with the story - Enjoy!

* * *

There is a place, where the sun no longer shines. A place where things change on a whim. A place too dark for even the smallest glimmer of hope to survive.  
There is a place that people go. They say that no one ever returns from it. They say it is impossible. They also say great wonders can be found there. They say they are protected and hoarded by those who hold sway there.  
They call it The Dark Arcology. It is said to appear and disappear in a seemingly random pattern. No one knows why. No one knows where it will be next. No one knows how to attract it.  
The Dark Arcology comes and goes, seemingly as it pleases. Every time, someone disappears from the world to be taken into it's grasp. They are never seen, or heard, or even felt again. To the rest of the world they are gone. They are no more. Missing. Taken. Lost.  
Why? No one knows. When will it stop?  
When will it stop?  
When will it st...

"When will it stop?"  
"Sora? Sora! Get up you great lout, you're dreaming again!"  
Sora sat bolt upright, looking around quickly trying to get a hold of himself. Donald was hovering over him. He felt... afraid. Him? Afraid? How often did that happen?  
"That was some dream," he breathed.  
"You kept shouting 'When will it stop' in your sleep."  
"I was?"  
"Just what were you dreaming about?"  
"I dunno... some dark building thing. Seemed like it was calling me to it."  
"Another adventure?"  
"Not one I wanna go on, it felt..." he paused, unable to find the words instantly. The feelings he'd had from the dream welled up, making him shiver involuntarily. "Unpleasant," he finally finished.  
"You don't want to go? That's not like you."  
"Let it lie," he insisted, not feeling it. Something still nagged at his conscious. "Lets go back to sleep."  
"You're gonna dream again," Donald warned.  
"I'll be ready for it this time," he smirked back.

The Dark Arcology loomed. It stood atop the hill, reaching into the sky, clawing at it, disappearing into the ominously dark clouds brooding high above.  
He stood on another hill, the wind tugging at him, pulling toward the tower. It tugged on him, his clothes, his very soul. It called.  
Come to us.  
Come with us.  
He took an involuntary step back, glancing at the sleeping forms of Donald and Goofy laying nearby.  
Leave them. They are of no matter.  
You alone are the keyblade master.  
You could be much more.  
Come to us, with us.  
We can help you.  
Unsteadily but warily, he started along the path to the Dark Arcology. The air grew colder as he approached, things seeming to become darker around him.  
He glanced back again at his friends.  
You'll see them again. Have no worries... trust us.  
Though there was no voice speaking, upon hearing these words, doubt seemed to fade from him with the last of the light. The Dark Arcology loomed directly in front of him. Dark wasn't just the name of the tower, it was the description. It wasn't just black, it was beyond black, a black so black it looked blue. The lone entrance in the giant wall facing him seemed to suck at the eyes, giving the impression that if you looked too long, your eyes would be taken from you.  
Come to us. Step through. We are waiting.  
All doubts banished, he stepped through, vanishing from the view of anyone who might have been watching. The clouds sparked with lightning, rolling thunder. The sparking and thundering rolled down the tower, spinning a spider's web of lightning. With a final flash running back up the tower from the ground, lighting all the darkened windows briefly, the tower and clouds vanished with a loud crack, and a rush of strong winds pushing away from where it had been, flattening the grass downwards and away from the source.  
No one noticed. Sora was taken, and no one knew what had taken him, or where.

"Welcome, Sora," a voice up ahead called to him. "Come on here."  
The corridor wasn't as dark as outside, but it was still dark. An orange light glowed from the end, shadows playing across what could be seen.  
The room at the end was roughly square, and had no apparent source of light. It was as if the entire room was the source.  
There was nothing in the room besides him, with the exception of one desk, one chair, one door and one woman. She sat on the chair, at the desk, with the door behind her. With a sucking sound, the way he'd come in vanished, blank wall replacing it. He almost started to it, but the woman spoke.  
"Don't be alarmed, Sora. You've nothing to fear here."  
"But... the door-"  
"Don't let it alarm you."  
He turned back to look at her. She wore white. It seemed out of place somehow. A white shirt, a white jacket. Her hair too was white, long and streaming down her back, though her face showed no sign of age. She looked older than him, but only by a few years.  
Her eyes though, twin black holes, all of them. They too sucked at the eyes. Without them, he would have called her attractive.  
She smiled at him, and waved a hand absently. A second chair faded into existence opposite her, and he found himself sitting down without even thinking about it.  
"Who are you," he wanted to ask, but somehow it came out as, "What are you?"  
"You don't need to know that. You only need to know you have a choice standing before you."  
"What choice?"  
"You can join us willingly... or unwillingly."  
"The difference?"  
"How well you are treated."  
"What do I gain from joining you?"  
"Power."  
"What's the catch?"  
"Loyalty."  
"That's all?"  
"Your loyalty to us, to what you are ordered to do, to what we tell you, and to nothing else."  
"But... my friends-"  
"Are of no interest to us, and in joining us, you give them up for our friendship. Two friends? Here you will have far more powerful friends. Ones who will be as loyal to you, as you are to us. Or if such is your wish, you may choose which of them you want."  
"I choose my friends."  
"You cannot."  
"Why not? I want them with me."  
"The offer is not extended to them."  
"Then extend it!" he shouted back, irritated at the complete lack of any change in this woman. Her expression never changed, always calm.  
"That is not in our interests. However, take our offer, and when you attain rank within our system, you'll be able to recommend them. Such is as it was for you."  
"Who recommended me? Who did you con into working for you?"  
"We did not con anyone. Seifer joined us of his own free will."  
"Seifer? Why would he join..."  
"He was interested in our offer. Now tell me honestly, Sora. Will you be a willing taker, or an unwilling taker?"  
He looked back sharply with a defiant expression. "Neither. I don't want a part of this, I don't want your offer, and I'll fight you if I have to."  
"You have no choice, and no chance. You will join us, one way or the other. There is no escape once you have been selected. You cannot fight us. You cannot match the power we offer without the power itself, and we do not tolerate disobedience or treachery within the ranks."  
"I'll have no part of it! Let me out of here... or I'll fight you anyway!" He pushed the chair back, the keyblade appeared in his hand at these words, ready for action.  
She simply laughed at him, a short, harsh, scornful laugh. Then she too stood, the table and chairs fading out.  
"You don't get it, Keyblade Master. You have no choice. You will join us, or you will be forced into joining us. There is no other option."  
"And if I fight?"  
"You will lose."  
"If I did?"  
"Don't be silly. Keyblade Master or not, you stand no chance against us."  
"We'll see about that!"  
He took a swing at her, but it didn't connect. She vanished before it ever reached him, and reappeared again after it had passed her.  
"You cannot defeat me. It is impossible."  
"There has to be another choice."  
"Is that so? Then I shall offer one." She turned and tapped the door. It blurred, shimmered, then seemed to split into two identical doors, side by side. "One door will lead you along the path to willingly working for us. The other... leads to many places, only one part of which will lead you to the way out. Choose."  
"It's a trick."  
"I will allow you a look through each door."  
"Open them both, I'll look from here. No tricks."  
"You are a cunning as you are reputed to be. Very well." A snap of her fingers and they both opened. The left door showed another room, another desk, and another woman. The other had stairs leading downwards. Screams echoed up from it. It sounded like people being tortured.  
"This is my choice?"  
"It is quite clear which leads to what. There is more there than what you hear. There is an exit there. None have ever found it."  
"I will."  
"You plan to take it? I'm interested to see how you fare in the depths. You're guaranteed safe passage through the first floor."  
"Why?"  
"That's where the holding cells and... other facilities are. Once you get to the floor below, all bets are off. Try to return, and you'll be taken, and we'll go through the process of bringing you to us. Get caught while looking, and you can expect the same. There are people of ours down there. More will join them when they hear you are down there. There are other creatures down there that will strike to kill. Choose, Sora. Choose your fate."  
"I'll take my chances before I side with the likes of you. Get out of my way, and I'll show you just how good I am."  
"Show me then, Sora... show me what you're capable of. Who knows... maybe I'll be the one to bring you to your knees, and beg us for mercy."  
He swiped at her again, quicker this time, shouting "I don't beg to anyone!" She didn't fade out quick enough, leaving a scar rapidly healing over her chest.  
She looked down, watching it heal, then fade entirely. Only the cut in her clothes showed any evidence of what he'd done.  
"Oh, you're good. I'll get you Sora. Get moving quicker so I can come after you already."  
Sora pushed roughly past her, furious, and heading down the stairs. Her mocking laughter followed him down until she slammed the door on him.

The prison level had indeed turned out to contain rooms where people were tortured. He didn't want to think back to it. Guards and torturers alike watched him pass malevolently, as if daring him to assault them. Terrified inmates screamed at him for help. He wanted to, but he was determined to get out of this place, and no doubt if he tried anything here, they'd descend on him. There were loads of them up here. He was outnumbered.  
Down here on the next floor though, things were different. It was a literal maze, every corner a potential threat. He'd met people dressed in all kinds of styles, always alone. Clearly this power of theirs wasn't as great for some as it was for others, because only some seemed to be able to fade out, and all that could, did it slower, leaving them vulnerable. There were other powers they showed too, speed, strength, throwing fire, or ice, or lightning, or other things. Some engaged him directly with a variety of weapons. So far, he'd made it through with no trouble - no doubt if more came though, it'd get harder.  
By now, he couldn't find his way back even if he'd tried. He'd lost track of it in several of the fights.  
Footsteps from up ahead. There were no junctions around in front or behind. Only a corner. He couldn't run before they turned the corner, so he turned it first, ready for battle. He was surprised by who he saw.  
"Seifer? Is that you?"  
"I'd hoped to find you, Sora. You're an interesting one. I thought you might take the offer to save your own life."  
"Not a chance. What do you want, to see if I've changed my mind?"  
"Why not? Reconsider, Sora. I can get you past what you've done, and get you a higher position than you'd have had if you'd just taken the original offer."  
"What did they offer you, Seifer? What turned you over to them?"  
"The same thing they offer everyone; power. It can do amazing things, with a little practice or patience. I can show you how-"  
"Give it up. I'm not interested. I'm going to get out of here."  
"No one even knows if she was telling the truth about there being an exit."  
"I'll find one if there is."  
"And if there isn't? There's no safe places down here. No places to get something to eat, unless you care to eat the monsters down here. I believe there's a few springs, though I've never gone looking personally. You also can't fight forever."  
"I won't give up."  
"Sora, tell me... what do you think will happen if you get caught?"  
"Dragged back upstairs and put through the same as everyone else there, no doubt."  
"Until you choose to join us, that is, but yes. Do you really want to go through that?" Sora didn't reply, so he continued. "Certain life and power unimaginable, or the possibility of death, starvation, and being tortured while looking for a potentially non-existent exit. I know what I'd choose. Take up my offer, Sora. End it before you have to go through that. Work for me."  
"Get out of the way, Seifer, or I'll attack you too."  
Seifer shook his head, but vanished, leaving behind an echo of, "You'll come to regret your choice later, Sora."


	2. Chapter 2

It was dark, damp and cold. He'd no idea how long he'd been down here now, how many floors he'd gone down, how far he'd gone. No idea where he was, and was still going on, his determination keeping him going in the face of weariness, danger, a growing hunger, and a dry throat. He knew Seifer had been right, but refused to show it. He was still determined to find an exit, and now one of the springs along the way for a drink. Food though... he'd yet to meet any non-humans down here as yet, and he'd no wish to become a cannibal.  
He kept going. Keeping on going, pushing on, not giving up hope, that was what gave him strength. He drew on that, and continued down this corridor.  
Another junction. Left turn. There was no logic behind it. It was just the first choice he came to.  
Seifer stood leaning against a wall, examining one hand. It was the first time he'd seen him since the original meeting in this place.  
"Still going, I see. Sure you won't reconsider?"  
"Never happening," he replied, his dry throat turning it into a rasp.  
"Here," he said, handing some bottled water to him. "You'll want this."  
He regarded the proffered bottle for a few moments, then snatched it, taking drinking deeply from it.  
"Easy there. Save some for another time. I'm not planning on helping you out all that much. You've no idea how much trouble I could get in for this."  
"Why are you doing it then?"  
"Call it fair competition. Not many of us can even get this far down. Merle - that's the woman you met way back when you decided to come down here - is one of the few who can manage it, but she's not willing to come after you alone. She's having to offer all kinds of things to get people to sign up with her, and every time one of her candidates finds out one of the others has been offered more, they up their demands. You've got an edge there. Down here, you'll encounter a lot less."  
"She said there were monsters down here."  
"They're illusions, and hard to maintain. That's why they're only saved for emergencies."  
"Just how far down am I?"  
"Forty seven floors so far."  
"How many are there?"  
"I've no idea. I should warn you though, if you're counting on me to show up with refreshments again, I can't get down too much further. Another three floors, then you're entirely on your own."  
"Why are you helping me?"  
"I already told you, fair competition. That, and I offer a way out. My offer still stands. Get caught, and you know what will happen. Turn in to anyone other than me, and you'll start at the lowest level, and be forced to work your way up. Take my offer and you can cut out the boring stuff and get straight in at the good positions. That, and I've got the privilege of being permitted my own small group of us under me, that only take orders from me."  
"I'm still not interested."  
"I didn't think so, but I thought you should know it's still open. I'm looking for a new second, actually... my last one got too cocky and got himself fried. By his own power, no less. Nasty business."  
"I might think about it if I get desperate enough. Are you going to help any more?"  
"Nope. I'm outta here before they find me. Good luck Sora. If you reconsider just call me."  
"Wait. What if I reconsider after I go down another three floors?"  
"Oh, your calling my name will let me come directly to you, regardless of where I am or you are. Useful little thing that. See ya. Wouldn't want to be ya!"  
The last echoes of his voice faded, making him realise just how alone he was down here.  
He sighed, stowing the rest of the water out the way, then continued on again. He had a friend, even if it was one who was going to keep showing up to wave his offer at him again. He helped, at least.  
With renewed effort, he kept on going. He'd get out of this one way or the other.

Footsteps. Lots of footsteps. Coming closer? Definitely.  
"Dear Sora... so you've finally fallen to the labyrinth. You've come a long way. I commend you that. You're certainly an impressive person. A lot of endurance in you, that's for sure."  
He got to his feet unsteadily, using a wall for support. Merle was stood before him, several others stood behind her, and a glance behind him revealed even more.  
"I'm not finished yet."  
"Look at yourself, Sora. You're exhausted. You can barely stand upright without assistance. You're beaten."  
"I'm not beaten. I can still go on."  
"Give up already. Make it easy on yourself."  
"Never."  
"Then fight me. Beat me, and I'll let you go free."  
He took one unsteady swing, which missed entirely, then collapsed back to the floor, beaten.  
"Take him back upstairs," she ordered. "Restrain his arms and legs. We don't want him to be able to use his keyblade on us."  
"Should we take it mistress?" One of the others asked.  
"No, pet. I understand he can summon it back to him. Better to leave it for now."

Sora woke up, groggily trying to look around. He was famished, and still felt tired, but slightly better than before.  
He was held down on some kind of tilted table. It was cold, hard and metallic. His keyblade lay on a nearby table. Also on the table were a variety of surgical tools. At their sight, he looked himself over, but it became apparent they hadn't been used on him. At least not yet.  
What else was in the room... nothing. That was it. Just him, this... contraption he was stuck in, and the table.  
Time to try something.  
"Seifer? Seifer, are you there?"  
"No, but I will be in a moment, keep talking so I can home in on you," his voice replied.  
"I suppose asking for a bit of help would be out of the question without having to take up your offer, right?"  
"Depends on the help. Hold on a moment." He faded into view, his back to him. "Sora?"  
"Doesn't your oh so mighty power tell you where to look?"  
"Oh, very good," he answered drily. "You're a regular laugh." He paused to take things in, then grinned. "I hope I haven't caught you while you're tied up in anything."  
"Not at all, I'm just restraining myself."  
"Sure you're not wrapped up in things?"  
"No way. Get me out of this thing."  
"What's in it for me?"  
"I'll finally consider your offer."  
"That's not much."  
"Do you see anything else I can do?"  
"Point. You realise if Merle catches me-"  
"You're in trouble, yeah, I remember."  
Seifer considered it.  
"Sorry Sora. I'm not helping you out this time. There's too much at stake, for too little gain. That's unless you can guarantee you'll take up the offer."  
"Does it still stand?"  
"Until the moment I leave this room. From then on, I can do nothing unless you find your way to me. And that'll take a lot of hard work."  
"Better to forget it then. Thanks for what help you gave."  
"Consider it an investment in the hopes that we'll meet again. Don't be too stubborn, Sora. The more stubborn you are, the lower your position."  
Seifer faded out again, leaving him alone once more.  
So much for pulling a bit of help out of him.

"Sora? Sora, do wake up."  
"Huh? Who're you?"  
There was a young boy stood nearby. He wore the same kind of attire as Merle, except it had black trimmings and he had a collar on.  
"I'm glad you're awake master Sora. My name is Dog."  
"Dog?"  
"Just Dog, master. Mistress Merle has sent me to attend to you. You are hungry?"  
"Yeah..."  
"Then you must eat. I am afraid all I have is soup. You can understand that I cannot allow you to feed yourself?"  
Sora grimaced, "I guess in your place I'd have no choice. Lets get this over with already."  
Throughout the meal, he tried to learn more about Dog and Merle.  
"Why do you call everyone master or mistress, Dog?"  
"I am the lowest of the low, master Sora. All at this rank are but slaves. I work hard in the hopes that mistress Merle, who is the one I am assigned to, will see fit to put me in for promotion. Until then it is proper that I treat all with deserved respect."  
"And I deserve that?"  
"Mistress Merle has ordered that it be so, master Sora. I am to treat you with the same respect as I do her."  
"So what's it like, working for her?"  
"Master?"  
"What do you do for here?"  
"Anything she wishes, whether it be to cook her meals, or answer those who call on her. If she wants anything, she has only to ask it of me, and I will do it."  
"You don't mind?"  
"Why would I? She treats me well. Compared to others of my station, I am well clothed, have a small but well furnished room to myself, and I am even given days off for good work."  
"And the collar?"  
"A... sign of my station, master Sora, and the only thing I wish I did not have. It reminds me every day that I am at the bottom of society. If I am ordered to fetch or buy something, then no one will speak to me while I am about, not even others of the same station. If there is a wait, then unless the mistress has called them in advance, I am the very last to be seen to."  
"So if there's a queue at a store..."  
"Then others will cut in front of me without regard for me, because they are above me."  
"That's harsh."  
"I have little choice without a promotion. If I may be so bold as to say so... it is the position you will be forced to take if you are stubborn, and I would not like to see you stuck in it. You could do better without having to go through the sometimes degrading life that I have."  
"What would I get right now?"  
"That is up to the mistress. I am instructed to summon her if you are ready to accept her offer."  
"I don't want to give up."  
"It is understandable. I did not either when I was brought here."  
"What happened to you?"  
"I had a dream. Or I thought it was a dream. The great towering structure of this place, the Dark Arcology, summoned me, and I let it take me. I chose the same path you did, but did not get far." Dog looked away for a moment, then returned. "I held out for two weeks before I gave up, which is what left me at this low station. I was not good at this at first. I was frequently punished. Eventually I learned, and as I learned, I did better, and was rewarded."  
"I don't suppose you know why it's called the Dark Arcology?"  
"I am... not permitted to talk about it. Please do not ask me any more of this, master Sora."  
"But why not?"  
Dog stood up sharply, shamefaced and refusing to look at him.  
"Forgive me master Sora... I have duties to attend to," he said coldly, leaving. Sora felt a pang of regret. Maybe he shouldn't have pressed the matter. He hoped he hadn't offended Dog. He felt sorry for him.  
Dog had returned the next day, and had pretended it had never happened however.

Two days after he'd first woken up here, and called for Seifer, then had Dog 'attend' to him, he realised that he was going to be treated well as long as he responded in kind, he took a long hard look at the situation.  
He had no contact with anyone except Dog.  
Dog was polite, so long as he avoided topics he was asked to. He made sure that he was fed had drinks, and was... cleaned up, to put it politely.  
But the fact remained that he was a prisoner, and had no choice.  
Dog had been right. He didn't want to go through that.  
He hated to admit it, but it looked like Merle was right too. People really weren't given a choice when it came to leaving. They were just given a choice of when to give in. Right away, after a chase or after being completely defeated, broken, and turned into... what seemed to be a slave. Dog had objected to that word quite vehemently.  
What else did he have?  
Not much, he reasoned.  
So he made up his mind, and waited for Dog to come again. He didn't have to wait long.  
"Good morning, master Sora. Are you well?"  
"I ache from having to keep still, but I'm fine." He decided to show a sign of friendliness he hadn't before, and continued, "What about you, Dog?"  
Dog was taken aback, surprised, but managed to stammer out, "I-I'm quite well, thank you... you are most kind to take an interest in my well-being."  
"You're the only person I get to see, I figure the least I can do is be nice. Could I ask you a question about me?"  
"About you? But surely you know what you wish to know about you?"  
"I don't know this one. You know about my friends, right?"  
"Your friends before the Dark Arcology? I have heard of them, master Sora."  
"Do you know if they've come here, looking for me?"  
"That would be quite impossible. No one comes to the Dark Arcology unless someone here wants them."  
"What about me? What if I want them?"  
"Not without the same power all of us here are granted, and the correct authority. Authority and power are linked when it comes to all the people of the Dark Arcology."  
"So I can't bring them here?"  
"No. You would need to have the same position as mistress Merle or her second to do that."  
"So... I'm all alone here."  
"You are forgetting me, master Sora, but I understand your meaning. You miss your friends."  
"Didn't you?"  
"For a time. Now the people here are my friends."  
"Dog... summon Merle."  
"Master Sora?"  
"I think it's time I gave up. I'll only lose more if I keep on sticking it out. I don't have any choice, Dog. Not that I have anything against you, or your position, but..."  
"I understand. You would not be able to do it easily."  
"It'd be hard for me."  
"If it helps you at all, I believe you've made a good choice. I will summon her for you."  
"There's no need," her voice announced. "I heard the whole thing."  
She faded into the room nearby, this time wearing a snowy white dress.  
"Mistress," Dog murmured ducking his head.  
"Stand up straight, pet," she chided him gently. "You know it's bad for your neck." She then turned to Sora. "What do you think? I had this dress made just today."  
"You look good in it," he told her, not knowing what else he could say.  
"Thank you. So, you're ready to join us, are you?"  
"I've come to terms with it. There's no alternative, is there?"  
"No, dear. Just acceptance."  
"Can I make a request on who I work for?"  
"I'm afraid not. You don't make that choice. It's made for you."  
"By who?"  
"That would be me. I could keep you, or choose to give you to someone else."  
"So I'm property."  
"Only on a technicality, Sora, don't take it the wrong way. You work for me, unless I give you to another of the same station as me, then you work for them, and they're the ones who decide whether to give or trade you to another."  
"So what do I have to do for you?"  
"Whatever I decide. Though, as you've chosen to join us willingly, you're allowed some privileges. Dog will explain them to you after the procedure."  
"Procedure? What's involved in that?"  
"Relax. Nothing painful. I simply leave my mark, decide your position, and the power will begin to grow within you. Ready?"  
"I guess there's no better time."  
Merle released one hand, holding it in her own, firmly at first until he showed no obvious signs of tricks, then lighter. Her finger traced a curious pattern over his wrist. When she removed it, what looked like a tattoo was on it. It looked like the Dark Arcology as he'd seen it from the outside. Above it, his name was written in ornate Gothic lettering, and below, a skull and crossbones.  
"Release him, Dog. It's done. He's ours.  
Sora felt bad somehow. In his heart, he knew he wasn't doing the right thing, but he had no choice.

In his heart he felt the choice being made. One heart became two again.  
"Oh, Sora! What have you done this time..."


	3. Chapter 3

Dog led him out of where he'd been held. Due to the odd sense of propriety they had here, Merle had attached a chain to his collar, and handed it to Sora. Though Sora was in fact being led by Dog, it would look to others as if it was the other way around. Dog assured him this was necessary.  
He still ached, and walked stiffly, but he was working it out of him. Like all other places, the walls here gave out light, but it appeared only where people actually were, or wanted it to be. He didn't as yet have the power to affect that. Dog had explained that his power was still forming, and it would be a while before the glows would respond to him.  
They emerged from the orange-walled corridors that were owned by Merle on this floor of the Arcology into a massive communal area.  
The main area itself was a central circular park like setting, with the occasional market stall selling something. Around it's vast perimeter were more stores, among many other things. Set above them in a single row were darkened windows. Occasionally a spark of lightening played over one of them, or several of them. In the very centre sat a lake with a beach around it. It wasn't large by any stretch of the imagination, but given that this floor alone seemed to be the entire size of the tower - which was massive in itself - it was enough to be large.  
"Welcome to floor twenty, master Sora," Dog said, turning to him. "This is one of the recreational floors of the Dark Arcology. Other floors are residential suites owned by such as mistress Merle, or a mall floor for shopping. The red doors on each floor are the elevators to other levels, each one has a map inside of what is on each floor."  
"So what do I have to do for now?"  
"Right now? You should wait for your power to manifest really, but you need to learn the way of things here. Starting with your place."  
"Merle didn't tell me that."  
"But she did. Examine your wrist. There are three marks on it. One is your identification - your name. The second will react when mistress Merle or her second summons you. The last is your rank."  
"A skull and crossbones?"  
"It means you're of the third rank, two above myself. The first rank is marked by the collar, the second and above are unique to your owner. In this case the second is just a skull, and the third is the same with crossbones. I believe the fourth level has it mounted upon a flag, and the fifth is crossed cutlasses. Then above that is her second. Seconds always have the number two as their mark."  
"And above them, Merle and others like her, what do they have?"  
"The Firsts have the eyes. I do not know if there are others beyond them."  
"So if someone above me gives me an order, I have to follow it."  
"That is correct, but only if they are a second or First, or are above you and working for the same First."  
"Right. Anyone with the flag, cutlasses, a number two or the eyes I have to take orders from."  
"You pick this up quickly, master Sora."  
"Dog, if I asked you to leave off the master, would you?"  
"No, master Sora. Your wishes cannot overrule mistress Merle's."  
"There's no exception?"  
"Only if her second finds enough reason. You are not yet cleared to meet him for now, as you've yet to adjust."  
"What's left to learn?"  
"A great deal. The first thing to do is to get you registered, and then to show you to your room. You are housed just opposite my room. Let me show you around."  
"While we make it look like I'm leading you."  
"Such is the way of things, master Sora. I may not lead, only follow."

The Arcology, he learned, had over two hundred floors above ground, and an unknown number below ground in the labyrinth he'd been going through. There were rumours he heard that implied that it was endless, adding a new level as someone inside got further. He also learned he was already gaining a reputation, having beaten the previous record of a meagre twenty floors with his fifty.  
Registering turned out to be an easy process, simply having his marking examined and logged along with his current owner. Once registered, if Merle gave him away for any reason, she'd notify them, and they'd update it accordingly, so they'd always know who was at what rank and who their owner was.  
Dog then let him go his own way, though remained with him, explaining things as he needed to.  
The floor above turned out to be a vast shopping mall sprawling over the entire floor - or more accurately, two floors, as this one floor contained two, which was confusing, having floor twenty one upper and lower floors. In one part there was an arcade, where Sora lingered.  
"But master Sora, you've no credits to pay for this yet," Dog objected.  
"Do you see me playing? I'll be back another time to play, right now I'm taking in what's here, what to play and not to play."  
"Master?"  
"Some of the games are rigged to make it harder to win, others you'll win on, then you'll have to wait until lots of gullible people pour their money into it again. There's a trick to it."  
"Fascinating," he commented. "But do you suppose we could leave?"  
"What for?"  
"There is someone in a black robe behind us that I have never seen before. He's somehow disturbing to me."  
Sora glanced back. The someone was wearing an Organization XIII robe, hood up, watching them.  
"How long's he been there?"  
"He followed us in and has been watching us since."  
"Ever seen anyone else wear anything like him? Or even heard of someone like it?"  
"Never, master Sora. It is entirely new to me."  
Sora nodded, leading them out. On the way, he felt a sharp pain from his wrist, and jerked it back sharply, looking at the markings there.  
"What was that?" he exclaimed, half to himself.  
Dog examined the markings.  
"Your marking of the Dark Arcology is glowing, master Sora. Mistress Merle wants you. We must go to her, now."  
"Can you do that fade out thing?"  
"My limited authority does not permit me to do so."  
"Do you know how it works?"  
"I understand you think of the place you want to go, and command it to be so."  
"Would it work with some kind of link, like the markings?"  
"I believe so, but you must not try it, master Sora! You've no experience with the power yet!"  
"Now's as good a time as any to find out, wouldn't you say? Strange person watching us, Merle summoning us."  
"But... what if it goes wrong?"  
"Afraid of a little adventure, Dog?" he grinned back. "Let's see if I can figure this out."

What was this place? Faint memories flickered across his mind, not his, but there all the same. A tower. Something about darkness. It'd become clear in time.  
Another thing, why did he have the robe? He'd left the Organization-  
There! Sora, with someone... on a chain with a collar? What was going on here?  
It was definitely Sora, no one could mistake that, especially not him.  
He followed, no one paying him any attention. He'd thought it would seem odd with the hood up, but no one gave him a second glance. Few gave him a first glance.  
A games arcade. Typical of Sora, gravitate to the fun and games.  
He stalked silently through after them, pausing at one point where he had a view of them. It was hard to hear them from here, only catching snatches of conversation.  
"... there's a trick to it," Sora was saying.  
"Fascinating," the stranger replied, then the sounds of someone else hitting the jackpot nearby drowned out the rest. Sora glanced around for a moment, then the two started to leave. Had he been seen?  
On the way out, they paused, examining Sora's wrist. He couldn't see what was so fascinating.  
The stranger began objecting, looking wild eyed as Sora grinned his favourite cocky grin back.  
Then they faded out with a sucking sound, and vanished.  
That was new, he'd never been able to do anything like that before.  
Just to make sure, he went to where they'd stood, and checked the was no trickery. They really had gone.  
They had looked as Sora's wrist. Maybe his...  
That's right, there'd been a marking on his wrist too.  
He checked it again.  
First, right on his wrist in ornate Gothic lettering was 'Roxas'. Below that, some kind of marking of a tower. Then underneath, his twin keyblades, Oathkeeper and Oblivion.  
What did this mean, he wondered. What had happened to Sora that had brought him back again?

"Sora? Isn't this a surprise? I wasn't expecting you for a while yet."  
"I thought I'd hurry along a bit," he replied offhand. Dog was still a little wild eyed, looking stunned.  
"Do stop that, pet," Merle told him, seated on a large three seat couch. "Sora did a good job."  
"I am sorry mistress... please excuse me to recover?"  
"Of course, Sora, let him off the chain." He did so, allowing Dog to nod shakily to each of them, then left them. "Poor boy has a terrible phobia of being ported like that. I must say though, you're remarkably good at it for someone who only just got his power."  
"I had help from Dog. He explained it to me, I just tried it."  
He looked around at the room. Like all of Merle's rooms, the walls were a warm orange. She was stretched out on the couch on one wall, a door on either side, and one behind him. There were various squashy armchairs around the room, and a dark panel on one wall that looked like a screen.  
"You like the room? I've so many rooms sometimes it's hard to decide where to go."  
"You could cater to pretty much any need though, right?"  
"That's true. Take a seat, Sora."  
"By the way, do you know anything about an Organization XIII?"  
"I've never heard of it before, why?"  
"They're a group I met before here, I saw someone wearing one of the distinctive robes while I was out."  
"Did my pet see too?"  
"He pointed them out to me, actually."  
"And do you think they'll be trouble?"  
"I don't know."  
Merle nodded. "I'll have him show me this person later, and investigate. At some point, you'll have to tell me more about this Organization, but right now, I've got a little job for you."  
"Already? That was quick."  
"Oh, I think it'll be a good test of your new loyalty. You see, there's a procedure we all follow whenever someone's brought in, whether by recommendation, or just by our own interests in an individual. There's inevitably people who know them, and would notice their disappearance."  
"Donald and Goofy..."  
"Precisely. You're to handle the task of investigating them and finding out what they're doing about it, who they're talking to, all of it. Do whatever you have to do to retrieve the information. Use your power sparingly though - there are some out there who have theories about our power, and yours is still growing, so be careful."  
Sora's mind was immediately filled with the prospect of getting back to his friends, and getting them to help him get out of what he'd been forced into.  
"Just what do you need to know?" he asked, trying to hide his enthusiasm.  
"What they're doing to find you, how they've reacted, how much of a threat they pose, and anything else you think worth our while to know. Just remember where your loyalties lie, Sora. "  
"No problem," he replied, grinning again. "This'll be a piece of cake."  
"I'm sure. I wouldn't try going by your own means though. While I'm impressed you managed to port yourself to here so soon, take my advice and don't try it again just yet."  
"Well, if the only exit is in that maze, and I've gotta go through all that again-"  
"Oh, you misunderstood me, Sora. That was the only exit for you at the time. On the fifth floor there's the port agency, they'll help you find where you need to go, get you there, and provide a way back again."  
"Right. Guess I better get to work then!"  
As he left, he paused, and turned back.  
"Is there really an exit down there in the labyrinth?"  
"No."  
"So there's no choice even then, huh?"  
"The illusion of freedom often motivates people to fight like you did, and we uncover some things we'd never normally see. You, for example, possess great courage and endurance. Fifty floors, Sora. No one has ever got that far down before. Go on. Go to work. We'll talk more later."

The Port Agency was a small room hidden near the centre of the maze of offices and departments that resided on this one of the six administration floors. In the centre of the room was a large purple orb that had a bronze ring surrounding it, that in turn was hung from the ceiling. One corner was blocked off by a counter, behind which three old-looking men were working away at paperwork. Each one wore a hat resemblant of those Black mages wore, except in the same purple colour as the orb was. Behind them was one door, and another on this side of the desk marked 'Staff Only'.  
One looked up as he approached, sighed, put his paperwork to one side then finally in a quiet but bored tone, "Your identity."  
"Sora."  
"Not your name, your markings," he sighed wearily. "New people always make that mistake." He examined the markings, making some notes. "You'd think they'd tell them, but no, it's down to us, every time... underpaid, overworked, and it's always up to us... everything checks out. Now, do you know where you're going?"  
"Not exactly... I know who I've got to check up on though."  
"Sending newbies to check up on their own folk... that Merle's breaking rules again. Alright, wait right there, I'll be through in a moment, then we'll see what the orb can find for you."  
Sora grinned to himself. Bureaucrats the world over were exactly the same, complaining about their job, insisting they should be paid more, and always gossips.  
Still muttering to himself, the old man came out of the 'Staff Only' door, and lay a hand on the orb, causing faint lights to spark on the inside.  
"Right, give me a name to look for."  
"Donald. He's a duck, if that helps.  
He stared at Sora for a few moments, shook his head and concentrated on the orb. Images of places flickered through inside, coming to rest in a place he recognised as Twilight Town, following Donald and Goofy as they made their way through.  
"No sound, in case you're wondering why we don't use this to find out things. It's theoretically possible, but no one's ever managed it. These the two you're after?"  
"Yeah, that's right."  
"You would pick a populated place... let's look around, keep your eyes looking for a shadow, the darker the better."  
"There's an alley two streets south, on the left of the path, it's pretty dark."  
The old man focused again, the image moving rapidly through the town, and coming to rest on the alley he'd mentioned.  
"Perfect, for a change." He pulled what looked like a marble out of a pocket and muttered something. It flickered once, then it was handed to him. "When you're certain you want to come back to here, pull this out and just command it to return you. It's a one way thing, so don't waste it. Now off with you!"  
At these words, the large orb's image died, closely followed by his own view, replacing it with black. It faded through shades of grey, other colours flashing through briefly, then they faded back into the sensible view of the alley.  
He felt odd, but couldn't place why. He still looked normal, and felt otherwise fine, so he ignored it and went looking for his friends.

Donald and Goofy had split up, he'd discovered, in the hopes that one of them would finally find him.  
Something was wrong though. He wasn't making any attempt to conceal himself, yet no one seemed to think he'd even been seen. Something very strange was going on here.  
He found Kairi sat in one of the parks, worrying about him, and decided to check up on her personally.  
"Hey, Kairi," he called, joining her, but she looked puzzled at the sight of him. "What's up?"  
"I'm... sorry, do I know you?"  
"Huh? You don't recognise me?"  
"I've never seen you before... please, excuse me, I'm worried about Sora... he's a friend of mine. You haven't heard anything of him, have you?" He tried to tell her he was Sora, but something made him balk, and instead just shook his head. "I didn't think so... see you around."  
Sora stood there, stunned. She hadn't recognised him. She'd even asked if he knew where he was.  
"What the hell just happened?" he eventually said to no one in particular, still shaken.  
"You can't tell them," Seifer's voice told him from behind. "No one can while outside."  
"What do you mean?" he demanded, turning.  
"It's a limitation we all have to endure. Out here, we lose our real identities. Only within the confines of the Dark Arcology we can ever use them. Even the Firsts can't do it."  
"So who am I out here?"  
"No one. Didn't you notice Kairi never asked you for your name? You can create an entire identity, and the moment you tell her the name you've given it, she'll believe that's who you are. Same for everyone else."  
"So I'm just... no one."  
"Merle sent you do handle this because she wanted you to find out about this. I know why you were so eager to come."  
"I thought I'd be able to tell Donald or Goofy... tell them what happened to me."  
"You thought you'd get their help in breaking out."  
"I can't do it, can I?"  
"No one can. Why do you think Dog told you he'd moved on from his friends from before he joined?"  
"How did you know about that?"  
"I was watching you. I'm not owned by Merle - my owner's Swordsman - so I shouldn't have done it, but I'm known for being stealthy. We may not have our friends outside any longer, but at least we have each other, and the friends we make within."  
"It's not the same."  
"I know, Sora, I know. Want some company while you work?"  
"You allowed to?"  
"I've got a few privileges you don't, being two ranks above you," he smirked back.  
"Hey, just 'cause you're higher than me, doesn't make you better than me!"  
"That's the Sora I know," he laughed. "Come on, lets go get your information for Merle."


	4. Chapter 4

Merle lounged, waiting for Dog to return. He always would, it was expected.  
Sure enough, at the exact moment she knew he'd return, he did. It always took him the same time to recover from being ported.  
"Mistress," he greeted her with a bob of his head.  
"What did you make of Sora, pet?"  
"He is headstrong, stubborn and impulsive. He appears to be simple-minded at times, but is far from it underneath, and justice is paramount to him. This has caused his joining us to trouble him, as he sees our power as an evil that he doesn't want, but has to bear because there was no choice. There is also an unusual connection I felt while in contact with him, to another individual that is much like himself. Lastly, there is some connection to the robed person we saw while in the arcade in the floor above. He did not appear to notice it himself, but there was a definite connection. I could not obtain anything useful about it, however."  
"No matter. What about the robed person?"  
"I'm afraid I cannot say anything about them, mistress. All I did was see them."  
"Project me an image of them, pet."  
Dog closed his eyes in concentration, then extended one closed hand, opening it palm up. As it opened, an image of the figure appeared, life sized, beside him.  
"An interesting person, wouldn't you say, pet?"  
"I couldn't say, mistress," he replied, concentrating on keeping the image in focus.  
"I want you to go on down to the tenth floor offices, and have them start looking for anyone like this. Don't have them brought in just yet. Just watched."  
"As you wish, mistress."

Seifer returned the table Sora was at, bringing him a drink.  
"You know, there was a time I would have done anything rather than have a drink with you?" he asked, taking a seat.  
"Yeah, I know," he replied distractedly.  
"It's still bothering you, isn't it?"  
"I can't even say my own name if someone else would hear it. It's kinda annoying."  
"Do what I did. Create someone, and just be them."  
"So if you're not-" he balked again, trying to use Seifer's name, then remembered, someone else might hear, preventing him, and tried again. "If you're not you," he said instead, "Then who do they think you are?"  
"No one. Unless I tell them my name, or someone else points me out by an assumed name."  
"I don't get it." Seifer sighed, took a drink, then tried to explain.  
"When someone looks at you, they see someone they don't know. If asked, they wouldn't be able to describe you, though some perceptive people have managed as much as 'about average' sometimes. To them, you're just another stranger. The power we share prevents most people from getting all that curious."  
"Most?"  
"Like some perceptive people can sometimes give generalizations, and only in one case actually pick out one or two details, some people manage to overcome it. Now say you created an identity, give him a name. For the sake of argument, lets say your friend Riku was that identity. If you told Kairi your name was Riku, she's accept that, and see what you want her to see. To everyone who hadn't yet heard that name though-"  
"I'd still be no one," Sora finished, starting to understand. "So what if Kairi told Donald, or someone else?"  
"Then they'd see you as Riku too."  
"I can't really use Riku though, can I?"  
"No. It has to be unique. Of course, you might be able to get away with reusing some names, but yours, and Riku's are rather unique, like mine."  
"I just thought of a problem with this."  
"Oh?"  
"If I told, say, Donald, that I was Riku, then separately told Goofy that I was... I dunno... Roxas. Then they both see me while together, who do I look like?"  
"It depends, actually. If there's more people around who know you as Riku, then Goofy would see Riku too."  
"And if there's more who knew Roxas, I'd be him."  
"You catch on quick. There's always a way out like this, and if all else fails, you'll just become nobody again. You can always tell when that happens."  
"How?"  
"How did you feel when you first got into Twilight Town?"  
"I dunno... kinda cold, a bit odd."  
"That's the feeling of being nobody. When you're using an identity, that fades away, and gets replaced with a different feeling. It changes for each one, so you'll always know who you are."  
"I wish I could just be me to everyone again."  
"Only inside. It's the way of things. You get used to it after a while."  
They sat in silence for a while. He didn't like being nobody. He imagined this must have been what Roxas felt like sometimes.  
His thoughts were interrupted when Kairi entered the bar with Donald and Goofy. All three wore downcast expressions.  
"I don't get it," she said. "That's not like him. Surely he would have woken one of you before just going off like that."  
"There was no sign of a struggle, Kairi," Donald replied. "Just his footprints leading up the hill nearby, then nothing. They just go."  
"Doesn't your magic tell you anything?"  
"It can't tell me anything about this."  
"It won't," Seifer remarked, not turning around. "Donald's magic would be tampered with by our power to stop him detecting us if he uses it near where you were taken. Even further away, it'd be hard for him."  
"Wouldn't he see the Arcology?"  
"Why would he? It's not there now. It isn't anywhere at all unless we need it in a specific place, such as to have someone taken, and even then, it only sticks around as long as we need."  
"Neat," he commented, not really feeling it. He privately admitted it was neat, and the seemingly great lengths they went to in order to hide themselves were highly effective, but he was still uncomfortable with having to be a part of it.  
Kairi and Goofy took the table next to them, while Donald fetched drinks. She glanced over at him, then frowned briefly.  
"You... you're the guy at the park, aren't you?"  
"Yeah..."  
"You sounded like you know me."  
"I've, uh... heard a lot about you."  
"Really? Who told you?"  
Hoping he wouldn't be forced not to say it, he quickly concocted a reply, and the start of a story to go with it if she pushed him for answers.  
"I heard about you from Sora. I know him too." Seifer's expression flickered surprise briefly, then curiosity at this.  
"Maybe he mentioned you once? I might recognise your name."  
"Uh, no, I don't think he ever would have."  
"What's your name?" she pressed. He picked the first one to mind.  
"Axel." As he said it, he felt the coldness of being nobody fade, replaced by what he could only describe as a fiery feeling, and for a moment, he was sure the reflection of him in the glasses on the tables looked exactly like Axel had when he'd first met him at Castle Oblivion, complete with the Organisation robe. A quick glance at himself showed that, at least to himself, he hadn't changed in appearance.  
"I thought you'd been defeated," Goofy broke in. "You didn't have anything to do with Sora's disappearance, did you?"  
"No, of course not. What gave you that idea?"  
"Oh, you attacked Sora a lot back at that castle."  
"Things changed since then."  
Donald came to the table, glanced at him once, then gave a distrustful look. Apparently he still didn't trust Axel. And since he was now Axel to them...  
"What's he doing here?" he asked rather harshly.  
"Don't be like that, Donald," Kairi chided him. "Axel's just worried about Sora's disappearance too."  
"Well how did he hear about it?"  
"From me," Seifer said. "I've been in town these past few days, I heard about it happening, and when I told him, he came on down to have a look for himself. My name's Dia."  
"Dia? I've heard that name somewhere before."  
"I swing through town from time to time. Do you mind if we join in the hunt for Sora?"  
"It's not so much a hunt. No one can find him, or find out what happened to him. We've been letting people know about it, and hoping someone will find him."  
"If I find out who's responsible, I'll give 'em a shock!" Donald said fiercely, waving his staff around slightly.  
"Put that down," Goofy told him. "It might go off."  
"It won't 'go off' unless he wants it to," Sora reminded him, forgetting for a moment that they still thought he was Axel. Fortunately, no one noticed the slip up.  
Seifer's wrist twitched as he reached for his drink, and he winced almost imperceptibly. It seemed to him like Seifer had just been summoned.  
His suspicions were confirmed when he glanced at his wrist, pretending to be checking the time. Sora could see his markings. Like his own, it had his name and the Dark Arcology on. Below it was the marking that denoted him as a fifth rank under his owner, which was a pair of crossed swords over a shield.  
"I ought to go," Seifer announced. "I'm due for an appointment. See you round, Axel. Don't forget that work you had to do."  
"Yeah, I haven't forgotten. I think I've got most of it."  
"Sure?"  
"I was until you said that."  
"Just making sure. I'll stop by again later if I get the chance. Don't do anything I wouldn't do."  
Sora watched him leave, noting that as the window in the door faced him, his reflection showed Axel again.  
"What's the work you've got to do, Axel?" Kairi asked him.  
"What? Oh, it's nothing," he answered quickly. "Just what I was working on before Dia called me here."  
"What was that, then?"  
He thought quickly, trying to come up with a cover. He came up with one that was probably hard to believe, but tried it anyway.  
"I'm investigating the possibility of another outbreak of heartless. There was a small one a few days ago, someone dealt with it, but we don't know who."  
"That's just typical," Donald complained. "An outbreak at exactly the same time that Sora goes missing."  
"I'm sure he's alright, wherever he is," he replied reassuringly.  
"I just wish we knew what he was doing, what happened to him," Kairi sighed, slumping onto her arms.  
"Maybe he was taken," Sora suggested. "Maybe something was waiting for him where those footprints finished that just... took him."  
"Like what?"  
He balked again at trying to talk about the Dark Arcology. It seemed like another forbidden conversation topic while he was outside. Instead, he settled for being vague about it by saying, "Maybe something that could be there one moment, and gone the next. The sort of thing that sparks off conspiracy theories or something."  
"I remember hearing something that might fit that," Goofy told them thoughtfully. "I can't remember quite what..."  
Donald finished his drink, looking around at Goofy and Kairi. "We better ask around then, and see what we get. It's better than sitting around doing nothing. Are you with us Axel?"  
"Thanks for the offer, but I better get back to work on my own investigation."  
"Just like you," Donald said, shaking his head. He seemed to understand though, and didn't press the matter, instead leading the others out.  
He watched them go like he had Seifer, once again seeing Axel looking back at him. He picked up his glass and looked at that reflection in it, Axel staring back at him, mirroring his brooding expression.  
After a few moments, he too finished his drink and left, concentrating on becoming nobody again. He knew he'd succeeded when the fiery feeling of Axel faded to be replaced with the characteristic coldness. Now he was unremarkable again, he followed his friends. He'd find out what they were planning to do, then report back to Merle. He'd leave out the part about his remark sending them on a trail that could well lead to the same place that had taken him.

Roxas stalked through the halls and corridors, learning what he could through listening in, and watching carefully.  
So far it seemed like everyone here had a mark like his, and that everyone seemed to have some kind of power that went with it, that he didn't have. Probably Sora had it.  
He'd found that the markings had three purposes, the name served as their identification around here, as it couldn't be faked. The image of the tower was used by one's owner to issue summons, and the emblem beneath denoted who one's owner was, and what rank they held. His seemed to be unique to him. A brief visit to the registry office to examine a catalogue of existing markings found that they existed nowhere else at all. He'd decided not to get them registered, in case it left any awkward questions.  
Instead, he had left, and now stalked silently through the halls of floor twenty-two, one of the many administration floors. Unlike the others he'd passed through, this one seemed deserted. The clocks here all reported it to be late at night, so probably everyone had left.  
A noise behind him attracted his attention. He turned sharply, the robe swaying around him. He spotted a foot just darting out of sight.  
One thought brought Oblivion into his right hand, and Oathkeeper into his left.  
Taking another corridor that lead in the same direction as the foot, he listened carefully for anything. He paused before coming out onto the next perpendicular hallway, listening. Someone was approaching, trying to be silent, but he picked up on it, and flattened himself against the wall. The approaching person was behind him to his right.  
He swung Oblivion at what he judged to be just above waist height when it sounded like they were close enough, and was rewarded with a dull "Ugh!" and the sounds of someone being knocked to the floor.  
They turned out to be a short thin man, minimally dressed in just a pair of shorts, some sandals, and a collar, all in blue. On one wrist was a marking labelled 'Rue' followed by the typical tower. There was no other marking, however, unlike most others he'd seen, but his visit to the registry revealed that this was a first ranker, one of those at the very bottom of the local society. The lack of a mark underneath the tower made it impossible to identify his owner.  
Normally, a 'who are you' would be asked here, but since that had already been answered by his markings, instead, in a quiet voice, he asked, "What do you think you're doing?"  
"I'm... not permitted to answer that," Rue replied shakily.  
"I'm ordering you to tell me."  
"Your rank?" Roxas tugged up one sleeve, revealing his own markings, but hiding the name to be safe. "I don't know those markings."  
"Good. See these?" He held up the keyblades. Rue nodded. "They're more important. Get the idea?"  
"I was sent to follow you," he half squeaked, starting to pull back. "That's all, just follow you and report back on what you did, nothing more."  
"Stop it."  
"I can't, that is, my orders-"  
"Your orders are likely to change to severe pain if you don't stop following me and get out of here before I come after you."  
Rue took that in looking from Oathkeeper to Oblivion to him, then back again, then finally scrambled to his feet and fled, almost tripping over himself in his hurried attempt to get away.  
Roxas watched him flee. The people here were strange, no doubt about it.  
He continued on course, pausing at one room near the red doors of an elevator, listening in on a conversation being held.  
"Has he found out yet?"  
"Yes. I saw to that myself. He'd have discovered it even without me, but I explained it to make sure."  
"Good. What about his reaction so far?"  
"He's very reluctant to accept it still. He keeps trying to find ways out of it, and getting very creative, discovering something even we didn't know."  
"Really? What was that?"  
"That while outside, we can talk about ourselves in third person."  
"Interesting. I'll talk to Sand about this."  
"Are you sure we can trust Sand?"  
"I'm certain. He's not going to risk too much personally though."  
"Understandable. I've got more news. Our suspicions were correct."  
"Which ones?"  
"The ones about what would happen when he took the mark."  
"Oh. Those ones. Do we know where he is?"  
"No. I also don't know what his intentions are. He might be sympathetic to our cause, or he might choose to be against us."  
"That's inconvenient. He'll be trouble if he's against us."  
"Don't remind me. It does fit with something I heard earlier though. Sand was ordering Rue to follow a mysterious individual."  
"You think it was him?"  
"It's possible." There was a pause, sounds of a computer being worked on for a moment, then the speaker continued, "How long to we have?"  
"Ten minutes, then we've got to get out of here, or we'll be found."  
Roxas didn't stick around. It seemed likely that they'd been talking about him, as Rue was the name of the one following him. If they were on a time limit, there was no sense in sticking around.  
He didn't pay attention to what was on the next floor up. The only thing that stuck out was something about a Powerball game. He had no idea what that was, but it was better than doing nothing.  
He didn't have to go far to find it. It looked a lot like a game of soccer - the pitch looked identical - but the game was far from what he was expecting.  
It was a ten a side game, but instead of one ball, there were four identical balls, and no one came into contact with them. Most of the time they were in the air anyway.  
It seemed to him that this power everyone seemed to have here was being used, influencing the balls with that instead. When two of the players both focused on one ball, it was hurled high into the air.  
There were four referees, one at each corner of the pitch. He didn't quite understand why they were needed until he asked, and was told that they prevented any outside influence from manipulating the game.  
Roxas sat down to watch. It looked like the game had only just started, and it was more interesting than just wandering around trying to find Sora, or find out what happened to him.


	5. Chapter 5

Sora had seen enough, and had used the tiny gem to return. The old man that had given it him took it back, noting the time he arrived, confirming his identity again, then sending him on his way.  
He felt slightly betrayed. They weren't hunting for him. They just told people and hoped they'd see him. It was some, but scant consolation that he knew they might stumble over something that would lead them to the Dark Arcology, which even now he walked through again, deep in his thoughts as he returned to the suites owned by Merle, heading for his room. He'd never been in his room here as yet, he only knew where it was.  
As he made his way there, the halls changed from the generic grey of an area without ownership to the signature orange. As an experiment, he concentrated on the glows, seeing if he could affect them, and smiled, feeling better, when he lit up the entire hall instead of just the part he was in. This power seemed so easy to use, he just had to think about the end result, and want it to happen, and so long as he had enough power stored up, it would happen. Oh, that was if his authority allowed it too, he remembered.  
Some things still seemed beyond him though, such as channelling it into speed or strength, or throwing raw elements. That said, he hadn't really tried to do that either. He was trying not to use this power at all, since he hadn't wanted it in the first place.  
His and Dog's rooms were at the very end of the hall, opposite each other, with the door to Merle's personal rooms on the wall at the end, between their rooms. He noted that his room already had a plaque with his name engraved on it in the same style of lettering as the markings.  
"So you're Sora," someone said behind him. The speaker resembled Merle in tone and appearance, but clearly wasn't. She had normal eyes, with green irises, unlike Merle's pure black ones.  
"Yeah, that's me. You are?"  
"Me, I'm Mia. Short for Miasma, on account of my skill in creating poisons in any form, from nearly anywhere."  
"That's kinda neat."  
"Thanks. Mother always said I was special for it. No one else can do it like I can."  
"I'm guessing Merle's-"  
"Yup, I'm her daughter," she interrupted him. "I don't get special treatment though. I'm a third rank, like you. I've never been outside though."  
"Never? Not even once?"  
"Nope... born and raised right here."  
"Who's your father?"  
"Sand. He's another First. After she and him had a falling out, I was given choices, and I chose to stick around here."  
"Well, nice to meet ya, Mia."  
"Wait, Sora... could we, like... be friends?"  
"You mean we aren't already?" he grinned back, letting himself in.  
"Thanks Sora. I don't got many friends. They're all afraid of what I can do."  
"Don't worry about it. See ya round, Mia."  
He hadn't wanted to keep company with anyone here just yet. It was still his first day free, if only free within the limits set on him. Maybe in time...  
His room wasn't large, but it wasn't small either. It was more like a one room apartment. The end of the room to his right had a small kitchen area, then opposite the door, a couch. A quick look beside him showed a TV mounted on the wall. At the other end of the room was a work desk with a computer terminal on it, not something he'd likely use often. He never had any great skill with them. Just beyond there was a bed, wardrobe, and another door. It led to a small room containing a toilet, shower and sink with a mirror over it.  
A glance in the mirror showed his normal reflection once more. Here in the Arcology, there was no feeling of being nobody. There was no need for it here.  
He though back to earlier, when he'd washed out Axel so he could become nobody again, and focused again, this time aiming to bring Axel back. Almost immediately, the fiery feeling was back, and his reflection blurred from him, to the same Axel he'd seen in his reflections earlier.  
There was a clink sound from the wardrobe on the other side of the wall. No one was there. Maybe they were hiding in the wardrobe?  
He opened it, expecting to see someone, but instead saw an empty wardrobe, empty hangers in rows.  
Empty, that is, except for two. One had an outfit identical to the one he had on, the other... he'd just seen it in his reflection. It was Axel's Organization robe. Except... it was more like it was made for him, as if shrunken down to fit him.  
Curiously, he went back to the reflection. It still showed Axel, but now, Axel was wearing the same outfit he had on. He had to admit, it didn't look right on him.  
Curiosity growing, he returned, and changed into the robe and what accompanied it on the hanger. When he went back to the mirror, Axel was back to normal, robe and all.  
One last experiment, he decided, and let Axel leave him, going back to himself. His reflection blurred again, and then showed himself in his usual outfit. There was no clink from the wardrobe this time, so he stepped clear, so his reflection wasn't visible, then back again. This time, he looked exactly how he was; himself, in an Organization robe styled the same as Axel's.  
He thought for a moment, then grinned. In short order, he'd added three more outfits to the collection, one for Riku and two for Roxas, one his normal outfit, the other his own Organization one.  
Seifer had been wrong. It was possible to do ones for people that existed. You just had to know them well enough.

"Hm, yes, taken you say? And there appears to be no cause, you say?"  
"That's right, we were hoping you might have some answers."  
Goofy had led the three of them to a small house on the edge of town, cluttered with books, papers, and all sorts of similar things, including one Professor Tom Smith. He was unremarkable in almost every way. Kairi had taken it from there, pressing on him the situation and that 'an acquaintance' had suggested the possibility of a more surreal solution. Oddly, no matter how much they tried, they couldn't quite remember the name of the person who'd suggested it, only that he was a friend.  
"Very interesting, very interesting indeed, and the footsteps just cut off?"  
"There was half of a print," Donald told him. "It was like he'd just stepped through a door."  
"That narrows things to a half dozen possibilities... was there any sign of a struggle, or any blood?"  
"Ugh, not a thing," Kairi replied. She didn't like the idea that something had attacked Sora and beaten him, he never let anything beat him.  
"Three possibilities... any interference?"  
"I'm sorry?"  
"Is there anything trying to stop you from investigating?"  
"My magic was blocked close to the place he disappeared," Donald supplied.  
"Two possibilities... any strange occurrences?"  
"Like what?"  
"Strange people asking questions about master Sora, people you can't remember fully, people who seem to be no one, then someone, people who seem too believable."  
"Those guys at the bar..." Goofy breathed. "What were their names... can't remember their names... they were worried about Sora too."  
Kairi's eyes lit up. "I saw one of them before, at the park... he seemed to know me, and was surprised when I didn't know him."  
"I'm sure there was something odd about them," Donald frowned. "It's like there's something stopping me remembering."  
"I believe I know what has befallen poor master Sora..." the Professor said in a grave tone. "Of course, it's only a theory, and we could still be wrong... there's limited information regarding this theory too, as the persons involved are highly secretive."  
"What is it? Tell us!"  
"I believe your friend was, for reasons unknown, chosen and taken by..." he paused for dramatic effect, the lamp on his table flickering conveniently as well, then continued, "The Dark Arcology."  
"What?" the answered in unison.  
"I said, the Dark Arcology. Not much is known about it. People who it chooses have unusual dreams on the day they are going to be taken, then on that night, they're taken. No one's ever been able to stop it happening, no one ever sees or hears from the taken again."  
"So I... uh, we'll never see Sora again?" Kairi's voice showed she didn't want to accept it.  
"If we do nothing, then no... you won't. There is a remote possibility that the two strange people you mentioned could have been him, but there's no way to tell, at least not without my being able to examine both of them."  
"What can we do?"  
"I must read up on what I know to be sure... we have only just identified the most likely cause. Perhaps you could all assist me with this?"  
"We'd be glad to," Kairi announced, then glared at the others. "Wouldn't we?"  
Donald and Goofy looked at each other, sighed, then both said, "Yes, Kairi."

Sora dozed. It had been a long day, and he'd gone to sleep almost as soon as he lay in the bed.  
Maybe it had been a dream. Maybe he'd wake up and find Donald stood over him nagging him about sleeping late. Maybe it had never happened.  
He didn't want to move, or open his eyes, or do anything in case it dispelled everything.  
As he slowly began to drift from half-sleep into wakefulness, he became more aware of his surroundings, without needing to do anything.  
He was in the bed, no doubt about it now, and he also knew his clothes lay in an untidy heap beside the bed. He'd never been one for a tidy room.  
"You're not a morning kinda guy, are you?" someone asked quietly. It was a familiar voice.  
He sleepily opened his eyes, and when he saw nothing, glanced to one side and saw Mia crouched beside his bed.  
It took him a few moments to think up a response, finally settling on, "Not really no. How did you get in?"  
"You forgot to lock the door."  
"So you just walked in?"  
"Do you mind?"  
"Well... no, but-"  
"You weren't expecting it. I get it." She stood up, heading toward the door. "Danny's making breakfast."  
"Danny?"  
"He's my mom's Second, he always cooks breakfast. You'll get to meet the others too."  
"How many others?" he asked, slightly nervous.  
"Oh, not many, don't worry. If there ever gets to be too many under one First, there's some process that creates a new First, and everyone not a Second or a slave, like Dog, gets evenly distributed among all Firsts. It doesn't happen often, and the Firsts always indulge in a lot of trading, bargaining and scheming to get their favourite people back again." She saw his still faintly worried expression, then continued, "There'll only be three you don't know, Danny, King and Zemyx."  
"Who?"  
"He's my little brother... and a pest. He's only a kid still, and I can't stand being around him."  
"Oh. Strange name."  
"He used to be called Tyler, but didn't like it, so picked that for himself when he was three. Are you just gonna lay around there all day, or are you coming to breakfast?"  
"I'll be up in a moment"  
"I'll be waiting outside. Don't go back to sleep, or I'll come wake you again."  
Once she'd left, he sunk back onto the pillow for a few moments, then threw off the covers, pausing again at the wardrobe to think. Instead of pulling on his usual clothes, he hung them up, instead taking out Roxas' ones instead. Since his life had been changed so much here, he decided to change his look to, and decided it didn't look bad on him. On the way out, he noted the clock telling him it was six in the morning. This was far too early, surely.  
Mia was waiting outside for him, leaning against the wall.  
"Nice look," she commented, trying to stifle a yawn.  
"Not a morning kinda girl?"  
"Not until I've had some coffee in the morning. Believe me, after a while even you'll start picking up the habit of some tea or coffee in the morning, it makes everything more bearable."  
"Breakfast normally does that by itself for me."  
"Tea _is_ a part of my breakfast."  
"Not mine. What's being cooked?"  
"Probably his usual, bacon, eggs, baked beans on toast, a couple sausages and a few potatoes. He's always claimed to have a vegetarian alternative, but no one's ever asked what it is, let alone asked for it."  
"I think I'll stick with the usual."  
"I would. At least you know what's in it."  
"How does he get the ingredients here?"  
"Simple, some of the upper floors have been converted into farms and such, and since it's all produced in house, everything here is always fresh."  
"Every time I learn something new about this place, it makes it seem like it's so much better than the outside world."  
"Everyone outside who knows, thinks we're all evil and stuff, even you still think that, I can tell. It's really not so bad here."  
"You're biased though, you've never left."  
"Don't remind me. Mom won't even consider sending me to do any work outside."  
"That's harsh."  
"Not really. I prefer it here. This is the place," she told him, leading him into what was clearly a kitchen and dining area combined, with circular tables scattered around and squashy chairs at them. Smells of food wafted over to Sora, making him feel instantly hungry. Dog was dozing on his arms at one table, with Zemyx sat on it, on account of being too short to sit at one, and had a pack of playing cards, with a game of patience laid out in front of him. He wore a red shirt, and blue shorts, but had nothing on his feet yet.  
King had his face buried in a book, his glasses looking like they were going to slip off his nose. Every so often he pushed them up again, and they began to slip down. His shirt was black, with lettering on it that read 'No, I will not fix your computer'. Out of all of them, he had the oddest hair, it reaching down past his chin in a vibrant blue.  
Danny was a taller man, currently busy with a frying pan with eggs in. His markings were clearly visible, as were his lower arms, since he was wearing a camo styled t-shirt and pants, with an apron over the top.  
The door closed with a click, and both Danny and Zemyx glanced over. Zemyx nodded, looked Sora over, then returned to his game, Danny turned back to cooking, but over his shoulder and the sounds of crackling eggs in oil, he said, "Nice to see you finally got up, Sora. I was wondering if you were planning on joining us."  
"No one told me you cooked breakfast this early," he yawned back.  
"Every morning. It's become a habit. Drink?"  
"What have you got?"  
"Tea, coffee, water and milk. And none of that decaffeinated nonsense either, if you want that, there's a café open just outside that opens in two hours.  
"Uh, I'll have coffee."  
"White or black, and how many sugars?"  
"White and three?"  
"I'll have it fixed up in a few. Quicker if someone nudges Dog for me."  
Zemyx put down the cards he'd been holding, leaned over, and clipped Dog around the head, making him wake with a start.  
"Danny wants ya to make the drinks," he told him, in a voice surprisingly low in tone for his age.  
"Anyone not having usual?" he asked sleepily.  
"Only Sora. He's having it white with three sugars."  
Dog mumbled something, got up and wandered over to one side. Clearly he also wasn't a morning kind of person.  
Sora and Mia joined Zemyx and King at their table. King finally looked up over his book and the table, mumbled a brief greeting, then returned to his book.  
"Nerds," Mia sighed.  
"Geek." King objected quietly.  
"What's the difference?"  
"Nerds have no social skills."  
"Neither do you."  
"I do have them."  
"Stop teasing him Mia," Danny called, now putting the food onto plates. Apparently, he'd already counted on Sora joining them, except for the coffee.  
Dog got to the table first, setting down a tray and handing the drinks out. Zemyx had a glass of water, King and Mia black coffees. Dog had white tea, which meant that the remaining cup of black tea was Danny's.  
Dog then returned the tray, then sat down to wait for his tea to brew, promptly falling asleep again. Zemyx poked him this time.  
Danny then came to the table with a trolley covered in trays, one for each of them, and handed them out. King finally put his book down only when his tray had been sat in front of him for a few moments, and even then regarded it carefully for a few more before starting to eat. Sora wasted no time, now feeling so hungry he attacked it immediately.  
"Hungry much?" Danny asked him, taking a seat with the rest of them.  
"I didn't have a large dinner," he replied between bites.  
"Should have stopped by, unless I'm out doing something, I'm usually in here. Dog's sometimes around too in a pinch, he doesn't mind cooking once in a while, right Dog?"  
"Sometimes I think I can cook better than you," Dog answered.  
"Oh, you cook quicker, but I cook better."  
"You two are as bad as King and Mia," Zemyx told them, wolfing down his meal quicker than all of them.  
"You can talk, you're nothing but trouble," Mia protested.  
Danny caught Sora's eye, then rolled his eyes upward with a meaningful grin. Breakfast was always like this, it seemed.


	6. Chapter 6

Sora lounged in the dining area of Danny's kitchen. Mia had left, and Dog had been summoned by Merle, leaving him with Danny, King and Zemyx. Zemyx was back to playing cards again, and King had pulled his book out. Danny looked at each critically, then got up, collected everything back on to the trolley he'd used earlier, then beckoned to Sora as he returned to the kitchen.  
"Give me a hand with the dishes, Sora," Danny told him. "It'll give me a chance to talk with you."  
"About what?"  
"Oh, don't worry. You're not in any trouble. I do this with everyone new person who stops by. I heard about your little excursion yesterday. You weren't really meant to go on it."  
"Why not?"  
"Against the rules. Merle shouldn't have sent you. No one's meant to go and investigate their own folk. She and I had a fair argument over that, but since she'd already sent you, there wasn't much I could do about it."  
"I didn't do badly or anything."  
"I wasn't suggesting you did. It got you a little practical experience in the rules while outside. They're more harshly enforced outside than they are in here."  
"Danny, why does no one want to talk about why the Dark Arcology is named that, or why we're not allowed to do all these things outside?"  
"Merle tells me it's orders, which is interesting, because as far as I know, the Firsts are the only ones who give orders, and there's no one above them."  
"So no one disobeys these orders?"  
"That's right. There's rumours about people just going missing when they break the rules, and they're either never seen again, or found later outside with no memory of us. Don't get any ideas about trying that to get out of it yourself, by the way."  
"I've kinda accepted there's nothing I can do."  
"No you haven't. I can tell that. But take my advice, just let it be. Work with the system, it does far better for you."  
"So how did you come here?"  
"Me? Oh, that's not all that interesting, you wouldn't want to hear it."  
"No, go ahead."  
"Merle wanted a better cook."  
There was a long silence, broken only by the sounds of their washing.  
"That's it?"  
"That's it. That's the entire reason I'm here."  
"And you got given status as her Second?"  
"Only because she didn't have anyone else she trusted with it more. She's not allowed to choose Miasma or Zemyx because of blood ties, King's already said he doesn't want the position, Dog... needs to get out of being a first ranker before he can be considered, and you're new. There's a few others as well, but none of them worth considering, she told me. They're all second rankers."  
"No fifth rankers?"  
"None. But like I said... anyway, I was given the chance, and I did the best I could. I watch over everyone under Merle while they're here inside, and I'm often a counsellor, someone to come to for advice, even by people who aren't owned by Merle. During the day I open this place up to the general public of the tower, and often end up doing the same for the regulars who stop by. But as Seconds go, I don't actually do all that much, I don't even give orders often."  
"No offence meant or anything... but do you think she might ask me to replace you?"  
"Not allowed again. You're a third rank, Sora. You need to work to become a fourth before you're actually eligible, and that means going above and beyond what's expected when you're on the job."  
"So I've just gotta wait for work."  
"For now. In about a week, you'll get a visit from a clerk from one of the admin floors, they'll see what you've achieved, what Merle and I think of your conduct and work, interview you and things like that. Then they make suggestions to us about what sort of work you're best at, the sort of missions to give you and such. After that's out the way, there's two ways you can go, through the education system, which would help enhance your control and usage of the power and what you can do with it, learn more about the tower, rules, and all that, or you can sign up at the Jobs board. Once there, you can take any job on the board you think you can do, but the better thing about it is that if you haven't taken a job, and haven't been assigned a task already by me or Merle, other Seconds can use the board to get you to carry out missions for them."  
"Sounds like a good way to do more."  
"Yeah, only down side is that as you complete more stuff for them, they take note, the Seconds talk to their Firsts, and they'll try to get you off Merle. It happens a lot. You'll still have to wait the week though. Until then, why not stick around here? I could use the help when I open up."

Danny's café attracted a fair number of people throughout the morning. While it was by no means busy, as it was only him and Sora there, they were left with no shortage of things to do. The regulars accepted this, they'd seen it all before, and those who weren't regulars either pretended to ignore it, or complained.  
One such complainer marched up to the counter separating the kitchen from the tables, and started mouthing off loudly at them for slow work, among other things. Sora tried to reason with him, but without being able to get a word in edge ways, gave up and instead pulled out his keyblade.  
"You see this?" he asked, the offending person now silenced. The regulars looked on in a mix of curiosity and amusement. "It means shut up and leave. You don't like it slow, tough. You can see there's just the two of us. If you ever come in here again, you'd better have fixed that attitude."  
He stood there, stunned, staring down the keyblade at Sora until Danny came up behind him, examined the situation, then looked to the him, his markings in plain sight.  
"What are you standing there for?" he asked with a hard tone. "You were told to get out."  
He wisely chose to leave before either Sora or Danny did anything else. A few of the regulars raised their drinks to Sora for his handling the situation.  
Things quieted down again after lunch passed, with only a handful of people coming by. As was apparently Danny's custom, there was no food prepared now until the evening meals.  
"Hey, Sora? You can handle drinks, right?"  
"Yeah, why?"  
"I'm running low on a few things. If you feel up to it, how about handling things here while I restock?"  
"You sure about this? I am new, after all," he grinned back.  
"You'll do fine, kid. I won't be long, and after earlier, I doubt you'll have any problems if trouble happens again."  
"No worries, I'll keep things going for you."  
"That's the spirit."  
Things were quiet enough that he didn't need to do much except kick back with a coffee and relax. Maybe it wasn't as bad here as he thought.  
His relaxing was interrupted by a familiar sight entering the café – one wearing the distinctive Organization XIII robe. He kept the keyblade nearby, just in case.  
Whoever it was made no hostile move at all, instead crossing his arms on the counter, and leaning on them.  
"What'll it be?" he asked. He might not like the Organization, but he'd been left in charge, he wasn't about to turn them away.  
"Sea salt ice cream," a familiar voice replied, followed by the hood pushed back. It was Roxas.  
"What are you doing here?"  
"Nice to see you too. So do I get the ice cream?"  
"I don't think we've got any here."  
"Oh well. Another time. What have you done, Sora?"  
"What do you mean?"  
"Last time I saw you was right before I rejoined you again. Next thing I know, I'm back again, I'm here... wherever here is, and I've got these markings on my wrist." Roxas pulled up a sleeve, showing them.  
"They look like..."  
"The same markings everyone else has, yeah. Except I stopped by the registry and looked them up. They don't exist anywhere."  
"Maybe they're a kind of reaction to my getting marked with them then. Do you have the same power everyone else gets with it?"  
"Nope. I'm guessing that's yours."  
"Yeah."  
"You can keep it. What gave you the mark?"  
"This place. Seifer recommended me to them, and if they're interested, they make you an offer you can't refuse – literally."  
"How so?"  
"Oh, you can either take up their offer, get marked, take the power and work for them, or you can refuse, try to fight your way out to a non-existent exit, and when you can't go on, they'll haul you back up and make the offer again, refuse a second time and then they'll break you and force it on you. I decided to forgo the last part."  
"So now you work for them."  
"Whenever Merle gives me something to do, yeah."  
"Merle?"  
"My owner."  
"One of these Firsts I keep hearing about?"  
"Yeah. How come you know some of these but not others?"  
"I keep getting fragments of your memories. What possessed you to use Axel's name?"  
"First one to mind. Do me a favour?"  
"What's that?"  
"See if you can get out of here and tell them what's happened to me."  
"That'll be a problem if the exit doesn't exist."  
"You could use the Port agency, down on the fifth floor."  
"Identification needed. I already stopped by. My markings would attract attention."  
"Stick around then, once Danny gets back, I'll see if I can port you outside."  
"You can do it?"  
"Of course I can. Nothing to it. Hey, was that you back at the arcade?"  
"Yeah, why?"  
"Then you saw me do it when I was with Dog."  
"Oh, that. Sure it's safe?"  
"You're as bad as Dog. He's terrified of it. If I can port him alright, I can manage the same with you."  
"Guess it doesn't hurt to try. Grab me a drink then, and I'll be around. Oh, and put that keyblade of yours down," he grinned. "You might hurt someone with it."

Dog was in his room, laid out on the bed. While he was ranked at the very bottom, Merle treated him well, giving him a room identical to Sora's. This was at least a sign of his good work for her, as others of the same rank were often treated a lot worse.  
At least after breakfast the mornings were quiet. Danny didn't tell him to help at the café, he'd always made it clear that it was on the basis of if he wasn't busy, and wanted to help.  
He could, of course, have gone to anyone else and asked if they wanted help. He didn't understand a lot of what King did though, and Merle's children weren't easy to be around for long.  
Sora? Well, he could see Sora, but Sora had probably had enough of him after yesterday. There was only so much time you could spend around a first ranker before you grew bored of them, he reasoned.  
He was saved the trouble of deciding by a knock at the door.  
This was unusual, not least because most people would just let themselves in, and he wouldn't be able to do anything but complain, and even then he'd probably be silenced.  
At the door was a tall woman with jet black hair, dressed in a smart suit, holding a clipboard.  
"You are Dog?" she asked. He nodded in reply. "I have questions for you."  
"Of course. Please do come in." This was hardly necessary, she didn't need his permission to come in. No one did.  
She seated herself at the table, Dog taking the floor nearby.  
"Your owner is Merle, correct?"  
"That is correct. If it's not any trouble, may I ask who you are?"  
"I am an Authoritor," she replied. "You may consider me ranked above the Firsts."  
"Then, may I know what I have done to warrant such a visit?"  
"Nothing. It's Merle I'm concerned about. I have questions I need answered."  
"Then ask, and I will do my best to answer them honestly, mistress."  
"Don't do that, for a start."  
"Of course, mist- uh, madam."  
"Ma'am will suffice. Now then. Tell me, who is the most recent person to become owned by Merle?"  
"That would be master Sora, who was brought in by recommendation, and mistress Merle won rights to bring him in."  
"I see. Was the proper procedure followed during that?"  
Dog shifted uneasily. Merle hadn't followed it, and he knew it, but he couldn't lie. He'd just told her he'd be honest.  
Silently asking Merle to forgive him, he answered, "Yes, in all ways but one."  
"Explain."  
"Mistress Merle... took the matter of meeting master Sora personally."  
"So she did not delegate this to her Second, or any other, and was present when he entered?"  
"That is the way it happened."  
She wrote on the clipboard during a long silence, her expression moving from stern to disapproving, then continued on.  
"What about the proper post-introduction procedure?"  
"I was personally escorting master Sora on his first day here, mist- ma'am."  
"It's my understanding that she summoned him and gave him a task. Is that correct?"  
"I believe so," he replied, his heart sinking. If Merle found out he was giving out this condemning information, he'd be in trouble for sure.  
"What was the task?"  
"I'm afraid I was not present when he was given it."  
"I see. Then tell me who was assigned to the required investigation of his friends."  
"It's my understanding..."  
"Yes?"  
"That it was master Sora."  
"Dog, I understand that you may be unwilling to act against your owner, but it is quite important you don't try to conceal information like that."  
"My apologies, ma'am."  
"No need for that. I always let people off with one warning. Now, I have to know, how many other transgressions has your owner made?"  
"Ma'am?"  
"How many other times has she gone against standard procedures and the like?"  
"Not including those two... I believe it's a total of twenty that I know about."  
"Your honesty is appreciated. You know where she right now?"  
"I do, ma'am."  
"You will take me there."  
"As you wish, ma'am."

Danny ushered the last of his patrons out, their dinners eaten, and the café closed for the day. Roxas had already left, waiting not far away outside.  
Sora went to him, having told Danny he wouldn't be long before leaving.  
"That was quick," Roxas remarked.  
"Danny doesn't take much convincing. You ready?"  
"Sure, but I've got a question. How am I going to get back in again?"  
"I'll figure something out later. Just don't leave Twilight Town until I do."  
"Making it up as you go along again?"  
"Whatever works. Now shut up so I can concentrate."  
"No need to be like that."  
"Roxas!"  
"Alright, I get the idea!"  
Sora concentrated, hoping this would work. He wasn't as sure as he'd claimed to be, and wasn't certain he'd get it right.  
He focused on the same alley he'd used before at the Port agency, built up his power, then let it drag them – there was no better word, but it was the only way to describe it – toward it. Their view blurred into black, then through grey, then settled back into the alley. Already he felt the coldness of being nobody again.  
Roxas seemed unfazed.  
"I guess you can do something right after all."  
"Hey! You don't know how difficult that was."  
"Sure. I thought you said I wouldn't recognise you out here?"  
"Maybe your markings cancel that out, I dunno. I better get back before I'm missed."  
"Yeah, sure. Tell Danny he needs to stock-"  
"Sea salt ice-cream, yeah, I told him already. I'll check up on you if I get the chance."  
"Don't get yourself in any more trouble, Sora."  
"I'll try," he replied, already focusing on getting back to the café.  
Danny glanced up as he appeared back again, apparently not surprised.  
"You probably shouldn't have done that, you know," he told Sora.  
"You knew?"  
"I know you left and took someone with you. That's all."  
"Could you keep it quiet for me?"  
"You're going to have to convince me."  
"His name's Roxas. He's sort of me, but not quite. He might not be bound by the same rules as us, and if not-"  
"Didn't I tell you to not to keep doing that?"  
"You gave me advice on it. I don't plan on doing any more anyway, it's up to him."  
"That's a neat way out of it, but you can't fool me." He stopped what he was doing, and thought hard for a few moments, then sighed. "Alright, I'll forget about it. But if Merle, or another First asks, I won't hide it from them."  
"They won't ask."  
"It's likely they won't, not certain. You owe me a big favour though."  
"That's alright," he grinned. "I'll just forget about it."  
"Oh, you can count on my remembering."  
Sora felt his markings glow, or rather he felt the sharp but brief pain in his wrist that made him instinctively jerk it back. Danny's markings apparently also did the same, as he dropped the pan he'd been cleaning, coming up with some creative curses.  
"Yours too?"  
"I hate it when it happens like that. Something I'll never get used to."  
"I'll take that as a yes."  
"Come here, and I'll port us both there. It'll be quicker, I've done it more often than you have, and we'll see what Merle wants with us."  
Sora recognised the room they blurred into, it was the same one he'd been summoned to the day before. King was sat in one chair looking distinctly uncomfortable, and Dog was stood on the other side of the room with a severe looking woman in a suit. Merle was sat on her couch again, looking unhappy.  
The severe woman looked hard at her. She sighed, addressing them all.  
"I'm afraid to say I'm being forced to step down because of rules I ignored or broke. I don't have any choice. Each of you are here because there needs to be someone to replace me."  
"That's right," the woman continued. "And I'm required to oversee this. Except for Dog, you are all eligible in some form or another. King, you are here as you are of the fourth rank. Danny, your presence is obvious. Sora, you are here at my request."  
This startled him, "Me? Why?"  
"As I understand it, mister King does not want to be a Second or First, and your existing Second has turned down the offer to be made a First multiple times."  
Danny shook his head, "I don't want the job. To be fair, I didn't really want to be a Second, but I'm told I haven't done a bad job around running my café, so I do my best with it all the same."  
"Quite. As such, it's necessary to make an exception to the normal rules, and look to the third rank, and of the third rank, you, Sora, are the only one eligible. Or you would be, if you had been here longer."  
"So where does that leave us, madam..."  
"You will refer to me as Authoritor."  
"Madam Authoritor, then."  
"You're aware that Sora cannot take the position until the obligatory week has passed?"  
"Of course. I was just talking about that with him this morning."  
"Then here is what I have decided. You will take the position of Acting First for one week During that time, Sora will be your Second. Pending the review of Sora at that time, you will take the position full time if the review is not favourable."  
Sora had to ask. "If it is favourable, what then?"  
"Then you will become First."  
Merle jumped to her feet. "I must protest! You can't expect to take Sora, only with us for a few days, and just give him that rank right away! It's never been done before!"  
"There is nothing in the regulations that prevents it. You also no longer have the rank to protest this decision, Merle." She turned to King. "As the most senior person present not involved in this, do you have any objections?"  
"N-none at all," he stammered out.  
"Good. Now, Merle, Sora, Danny, you'll all come here."  
She took each of their wrists in turn, tapping their markings. Merle's eyes lost their blackness, and a skull formed on her wrist, marking her as a second rank now. Danny instead took the eyes, his '2' on the wrist vanishing, to reappear on Sora's own wrist in place of his previous mark.  
"I will return in a week after the review has been done," she told them. "I expect no further trouble in that time."  
She strode from the room with no more than a second glance at any of them.  
Sora almost couldn't believe what just happened. Given the expressions on Merle and Dog's faces, they couldn't either.


	7. Chapter 7

The same Authoritor that had delivered judgement to Merle and reassigned ranks now waited in a bleak antechamber nervously. The Council didn't summon people lightly.  
A spark played over one of the darkened windows, illuminating a hazy view that shifted through various places, never quite settling on any specific one. It only would when someone was taken.  
The ornate double doors opened a crack, and a head peered around at her.  
"The Council will see you now," it told her. She nodded, getting up and steeling herself. There was no way to tell if this would be good or bad.  
Six people sat around a long oval table. The Councilmen and women. At the head of the table were two more chairs, more ornate than the ones the Council had but vacant, then between them and most impressive looking of them all, one last chair, this one facing away from them. It was impossible to tell if it was occupied or not.  
One of the members on the left side spoke first, in a calm, clear voice."Authoritor Karen, you know why you have been called before the Council?"  
"I do," she replied, not letting her nerves show.  
"Then explain yourself."  
"Merle owned no one of the fifth rank and her only fourth rank refused further advancement, thus I deemed it necessary to look to the third rank. Of them, only the newest of them, Sora, was eligible."  
"He has not been here the required week," one of the others interjected.  
"I'm aware of that."  
"So your actions were?"  
"I placed her Second as First, and Sora as his Second. When Sora's review is done, I plan to read it and investigate his actions during the week, then assuming it's favourable, make him First, as the Second also does not wish to be a First."  
"You had the power to order them to take the positions. Why did you not use it?"  
"I didn't use it because I don't feel forcing people into positions they don't want is the right course of action."  
"Yet you forced her Second to become First."  
"On a temporary basis. Should Sora's report come back against him, then I'll discuss the options of his staying on permanently, or finding another."  
"I don't believe you made the correct decision," another member announced, rising to his feet. "Your task is to handle these situations within the confines of the rules, and no more. You are not here for public relations, you are here to tell people what positions they will take."  
"Ordinarily, I would agree," the chair at the head of the table spoke softly, his voice reaching to each of them easily, the rest of the council turning to face it. "But in this case, I believe an exception is required. Sit down."  
He did so as the chair turned, but not quietly. "With all due respect Grandmaster, what makes him so special? He's a mere third rank, and only a child at that."  
The figure in the chair leaned forward into the light, bringing a face with a smirk, framed with long silver hair, into view.  
"Oh, no. No, Sora's far more than that. He's a Keyblade Master, and a Second with high chances of becoming a First. He's more than worthy of that."  
"Grandmaster?"  
"I have challenged him before now, before here. I know what strength he has. Authoritor Karen's decision stands, and in future, you will all remember he is more than he seems."  
"Of course, Grandmaster," the remaining Council members replied.  
"Then it is settled. You may go, Authoritor."  
She left the room again, thankful and awed simultaneously. Not only summoned to the Council, but a meeting with the Grandmaster himself! A rare honour that was.

Danny had insisted on accompanying Sora back to his room with a faint grin playing over his face.  
The reason became clear as soon as he entered. The walls were no longer the old uniform orange, but were now blue on the lower half of the walls and red on the upper half, with a thin golden border separating them. His couch, previously a simple two-seater, was now a larger three seater in black leather, and two single seat chairs in the same design were also nearby.  
"You also have a better bathroom," Danny told him. "With an actual bath, rather than just a shower. You also get to colour the walls as you please, though as far as I can tell, they try to pick up on what you'd choose anyway. I think they did pretty good for you, not a bad style."  
"Thanks, I think. It's a bit of a change to handle."  
"Oh, don't worry, you'll do fine. You'll have people of ours stop by sometimes the same way they would me, except where you're my Second, if they think it's not worth bothering me about, they'll come to you instead."  
"Then what?"  
"Then you get to decide whether what they want is something you can authorise, or pass it up to me. You're expected to be able to account for what you decide, mind. You just saw one possibility of not being able to. Oh, and if something comes up, you get to send yourself on missions."  
"And I tell when something comes up by..."  
"Your computer on the desk. Just power it up, it'll automatically recognise you and give you useful information. Try it sometime, you might find it useful."  
"What about you, what are you going to do?"  
"Go back to my café and pretend nothing happened."  
"You really don't want to be a First do you?"  
"Not if I can help it. I can see the necessity for it this time, but still... you do good work, Sora. I'd be glad to hand over the reins to you by the end of the week, I'm sure."  
"You expect me to do bad work?" he grinned back. "Me, of all people? Not a chance!"  
Danny chuckled, shaking his head, then turned to leave.  
"Just remember to expect more visitors," he said on the way out.  
Left wondering again what to do, and still slightly amazed at what had happened to him in the short time he'd been here, he stood for a few moments, then realised he was hungry, and decided maybe he'd try cooking something for a change. He'd helped this morning. How hard could it be?

By lunchtime the following morning, he'd been visited by three people ranked second looking for advice, Merle apologising for what she'd done, Dog asking if he could put in a word with Danny about finally breaking out of being a first rank, and Mia, who wanted his permission to take on missions outside of the tower. He'd given it, insisting that she take along someone who'd been outside, just in case. She'd protested vehemently, until he'd ordered her to.  
He slumped into a chair in the café, Danny bringing him a coffee and joining him.  
"Busier day?"  
"Busier than yesterday. Thanks, I could use a drink about now."  
"I did tell you to expect visitors."  
"I don't think I was quite prepared for this."  
"Look on the bright side of things, you're doing something right."  
"How so?"  
"Mia came to me complaining about the orders you gave her. I told her you were right, and she complained a bit more, but accepted it."  
"That means I'm doing it right?"  
"Of course. I've long held the opinion that if someone doesn't like what you've done or are doing, then you're probably doing it right."  
"I guess that helps a bit."  
"You should have seen your friend Seifer. He stopped by earlier, wondering where you are. He's terribly envious of you right now, you know, he's been trying for months to become a Second, and you came along and got it in a few days."  
"I always was better than him," he smirked back.  
"Don't get cocky. How about taking on a mission for me?"  
"Depends on what it is."  
"There's a new guy up on the boards that list recommendations and such. He's young, not much younger than yourself actually, leads a pretty normal life. What's got my attention is that rumour says he's got an interesting ability. As soon as he picks something up, he instantly knows how to use it. Tool or weapon, the potential uses are endless. He doesn't even know he has it though."  
"And you want him checked up on to see if the rumours are true, and if so, brought in?"  
"Oh, not brought in. I haven't got rights to doing that just yet, I want the initial report first, to see if it's worth it. If it is, I'll show you what you need to do to have him taken in."  
"Taken in? You mean the same thing I went through, right?"  
"Yeah, except I won't be breaking rules. You'll be the one meeting him. I could pass it off to King, but you know what he's like around people. Jittery as anything."  
"So where do I find him, and what's he called?"  
"Small farming community called Baxton. His name's Jamie. Those names should be enough to get you there."  
"After I finish the coffee."  
"Sure thing. Thanks Sora."  
"Hey, Danny? Why don't you like giving orders?"  
"It's never sat well with me, I prefer to make suggestions and let people decide what to do on their own. Works better for me. Why do you ask?"  
"Curiosity, and still trying to figure out how to handle the people who keep pestering me."  
"Patience, Sora. You get used to it eventually."

Sora had almost retraced his steps to the Port agency office again, when he remembered he didn't need to now. With his move up in rank, he could tell the power available to him had grown, and that he was authorised to do more.  
Baxton turned out to be just what it had been described as; a small farming community. Fields of crops to one side, fields of farm animals to the other, and a large central building that was made up of warehouses, lodgings, the kitchen and other such places, arranged in a sensible square around a central courtyard. A few cottages lay on the outskirts, along the path that ran from north to south, and right past the main farm buildings. Strangely, there seemed to be no one around at all anywhere. No one out in the fields. No one wandering around. No one in the blacksmith, even it's forge was lacking the usual distinctive fiery glow of the furnace. Something was wrong here, but he couldn't place what, not yet.  
Just as it had the last times he'd been outside, he felt himself become nobody once more, but he quickly banished it in favour of Axel. He could have been anyone, or created an entirely new person from scratch, but he knew Axel, and also knew it didn't really matter out here. It was highly unlikely that they'd ever seen him before.  
Something had stopped him going directly to the central area, forcing him to make his way in on the path. As he made his way down, the feeling that something wasn't right grew. There was an odd feel to the air, a presence of something there, but unseen.  
He knew what it was, he'd felt it often enough. It was the knowledge that Heartless were here. Probably drawn here by his keyblade.  
He drew it out ready, then did a double take. It didn't look like his keyblade. It was different, silvery blue-green in colour, and it looked like it had a layer of scales on it, the tip looking more like a stylized dragon's head, and with a sharp hook back on the underside of the blade.  
Different or not, it was still his keyblade, and there were still Heartless here somewhere.  
He approached the central buildings warily, eyes flicking around scanning the area for any sign of Heartless. There was nothing though, just a deserted farmstead and an oppressive feeling that meant they were definitely here somewhere.  
Reluctantly, he gave in, and let his power build up, then sent it out in short waves, using them in the same way as a sonar system, building up a mental picture of his surroundings. He didn't like to resort to this, he'd never needed to before, but he had to find Jamie, and knew better than anyone that leaving Heartless alone was a risk to everything and everyone else in the area.  
The immediate area was clear, that much was certain, and there didn't seem to be any obvious places for Heartless to hide.  
He proved himself wrong on that score, as the moment he stood in the centre of the courtyard, several Soldier Heartless sprung out on him, several from the far sides of rooftops, where they had lain hidden just out of sight, a few from windows, and a lot from the various shadows, having somehow avoided his attempt to find them.  
The lightly armoured Soldier Heartless posed little threat, being clumsy and like all Heartless, lacking coordination. Some swiped high, apparently aiming for the illusion of Axel they saw, as Axel was taller than him. Those that did were surprised enough to find they came into contact with nothing but air, were left as easy targets for the picking.  
More Heartless came as he fought, mostly Soldier, but slowly being supplemented with the more common, but weaker Shadow Heartless.  
The numbers were beginning to pile up against him, he couldn't keep this up for long. Even he had his limits. Fifty floors, he reminded himself, fifty floors of an unknown place, with dangers he'd never come across before. Remembering this made him more determined to fight on, doubling, and redoubling his efforts, and starting to carve through them once more.  
Once more the numbers piled up again, faster this time, pushing him back, making him grow irritated.  
This had two effects. One was that he started finding extra reserves of power to throw behind him, the other was that everything seemed to slow down slightly, not him, but everything else, as if time's flow had been altered. Between them, once again, he started beating them back yet again.  
It was when he'd battled through this teeming hoard, back to the centre of the courtyard again, that he realised what had just happened. He'd somehow channelled his power into additional strength and speed.  
Was it speed? No, it was more like improving his reflexes just enough that to anyone else watching, it would look like he was moving at high speed. Which of course he was.  
He took a few moments breather, thinking quickly, then understood how it worked, he didn't channel it directly to it, rather he let his own body draw on it, pulling it into use as it needed. He just had to have reason to need it.  
This didn't help him much though, as the hoard was piling up again, and he was forced to start fighting them off again, making use of the new discovery for even more devastating attacks against the Heartless. Some parts of the farm buildings suffered slightly, but it was only minor.  
It still wasn't enough, and he was backed into a corner again.  
"Give me a break!" he exclaimed. Oddly, the Heartless stopped approaching, and just stood, watching. Sora was dumbfounded. What was going on here?  
He stood trying to figure out this strange behaviour, breathing heavily from his efforts, and wincing at a few sore spots they'd managed to cause. Through all this, they merely stood and looked on impassively.  
A faint memory sparked an idea. It was all he needed. He stood up straight, bent again putting a hand to one rib that had stung, then tried again, trying to look commanding. He had to admit he probably didn't do very well at it, and it probably wasn't necessary, but did it anyway.  
"Vanish," he told them, in what he hoped was a commanding voice. They did so, all except for the tell-tale glow of their eyes.  
"Go from here, and don't bother this place any more."  
Slowly, the feeling of their presence lessened, faded, then was gone. He'd really just commanded Heartless. An entire teeming mass of them. They'd just upped and left, all at his word.  
Once again he stood in amazement at what he'd done, almost unable to take it in. Then he remembered why he was here, shook himself, and resumed searching for Jamie. Hopefully the Heartless hadn't claimed him.


	8. Chapter 8

There was evidence of fights all over the farm buildings, and not just ones Sora's own battle had left on them. The tools in the smithy were strewn all over, the kitchen looked like a small hurricane had passed through, and many of the rooms for farm hands weren't in much better condition either.  
All of the rooms had one thing in common though – they were deserted. This wasn't good, he needed to find Jamie. If the Heartless hadn't claimed him, then he'd need a friend, and he'd need a new life. If he could persuade Danny to see it the right way, he could handle both at the same time.  
Knowing himself that the Heartless weren't exactly bright, he made a point of checking places to hide – inside cupboards and underneath the beds, for example. Still no sign of anyone.  
He finally reached a small office just above the kitchen. Whoever worked in here would be in an unparalleled position to smell food being prepared before anyone else.  
At a glance, it too seemed devoid of life. A single cabinet of paper, no room to hide in there, a simple chair, and a desk.  
And there, underneath the desk, curled up, was a boy, just as Danny had described him, just a bit younger than Sora. He held a somewhat rusty and dented old short sword pointed at him, his grip on it clearly showing his competence with it.  
"Put that away," Sora told him. "I'm here to help."  
"You could be one of them."  
"I just got rid of them. They won't come back here again, ever."  
"Are you sure?"  
"Sure as I can be." He extended a hand, though keeping wary of the sword. "I'm Sora."  
"Jamie," he replied, putting down his weapon and pulling himself to his feet. He was a head shorter, and dressed in a simple shirt and pants, nothing fancy. "Did you help the others too?"  
Sora took a few moments to figure out how to answer that, then put one hand on his shoulder, and shook his head. "There weren't any others. I'm sorry."  
Strangely, it didn't seem to bother him. "I knew it. I heard a fight. I was told to take shelter, and came here. It went on for hours, I could hear them all, there was screaming and shouting."  
"Easy, there. It's a hard thing to go through, losing everyone you knew."  
Again, this didn't bother him. His expression didn't change at all. "One of those black things came in here."  
"A Heartless."  
"I suppose. It looked right at me. I couldn't do anything to it. I was afraid, then... then I must have fallen asleep, because next thing I remember was waking up on the floor, and there was nothing there. I could hear them outside still, but I wasn't afraid any more. I knew I couldn't help them, I couldn't do anything to them."  
Sora stood listening in silence. There was something passing him by, he was sure, but he couldn't figure out what.  
Jamie continued on, "I stayed in here, watched them go. None of them came back to here. Then there was nothing at all, just silence. I thought they might come back then, so I hid under the desk. I don't know how long I was there for, but the next thing I remember, I could hear someone else fighting them, a few minutes ago."  
"That was me. I'm used to it, I fight Heartless a lot."  
"Yeah... I thought I'd better wait and see what happened... then you showed up."  
"Jamie? What do you feel, right now?"  
"I... don't feel anything, why?"  
Sora knew what he'd been missing. He hadn't gone to sleep. He'd been turned into a Nobody.  
This was unexpected, and probably not good. He needed to talk to someone who knew Nobodies. Or someone who was one...  
"It's just a hunch," he told the waiting Jamie. "Wait here for me? I've got to go see someone."  
"Can't I come with you?"  
"I won't be more than a few moments, and it's safer this way. Keep that sword with you, if anything attacks you, just hold it off until I get back."  
"But-" he began to object.  
"Trust me," Sora cut him off. "I won't be long enough to let anything happen."  
Reluctantly, he nodded. Sora focused for a moment, porting himself directly to the café. No one there was surprised to see him just pop out of thin air, and head directly to Danny.  
"Well?" he asked, not wasting any words.  
"I've found him, but there's a problem. There were Heartless there, and they got to him before us. You remember what I said about Roxas?"  
"Of course."  
"He's like that; a Nobody."  
"How is that a problem?"  
"He just lost his entire life, everyone he knew. He should be experiencing emotional trauma from it, but he's not, he doesn't feel anything."  
"Because a Nobody doesn't have a heart, I remember you saying, but I still don't see how it's a problem, Sora."  
"He doesn't know it yet. I also haven't managed to confirm about the ability he's reported to have, but I'm fairly certain of it."  
"Alright, so what do you want to do about it?"  
"Take him to Roxas. Roxas was part of Organisation XIII, they were all Nobodies. He'll be able to do something to help him, I'm sure of it. I'll figure out something to check his ability along the way."  
"Be careful. Even if he can't feel the shocks of many new things, you don't want to put him through too much."  
"I'll remember. So can I take him?"  
"Go ahead. I want you to check up on him often though, and as soon as you think he's ready to join us here, bring him in."  
"Great, thanks. I better get back before he thinks I've just run off and abandoned him or something."  
Danny just nodded, back to making someone's lunch, and he headed back the way he'd come. Jamie hadn't moved far, he was leaning on crossed arms, looking out the window with the same blank expression he'd had when Sora left.  
"You didn't miss anything."  
"See, what'd I tell ya? Gonna take you to see someone I know, he'll be able to help you."  
"Help me? With what?"  
"Uh, it's kinda hard to explain, and I don't really know how to say it..."  
"And your friend does?"  
"Naturally, that's why we're seeing him."  
"Where is he then?"  
"Twilight Town."  
"I've heard that place before... sometimes people passing through mentioned it."  
"Which way did they come from?"  
"Northwards, I think." He went back to the window and leaned out, looking northwards. "I think you might want to find another way."  
"Why's that?"  
"Those Heartless things are there. I think they're surrounding us."  
"I told them to leave!" Sora burst out, irritated. He beckoned for Jamie to follow then stormed out, leaving to the north – the same way he'd come in.  
There was a long line of Heartless in a ring around the area. They were watching him again.  
"You can tell these things what to do?"  
"I don't know how. I did it before I found you."  
"How do I know you didn't set them on us?"  
"I fight these things normally, I don't use them or anything," he replied a little more harshly than he intended, still bearing down on the Heartless. They didn't react.  
"I told you to leave," he told them, destroying a few with a swipe of the keyblade. They didn't react. "Go! Just go, away from here, don't just stand there, move!"  
Unlike last time, they looked to each other, chittering sounds between them. Sora watched, trying to get a hold of his annoyance.  
Finally one nodded at him, then they all turned to leave, then a short distance away, vanished entirely. The sense of their presence left with them.  
"You didn't fight them," Jamie commented.  
"I'm still winded from last time, things haven't gone the way I expected, and I shouldn't be able to command them, but I can. So I'm taking advantage of it while it still works to make things easier for us. Now come on, we're going to Twilight Town, now."  
"Whatever you say."

Roxas, unlike Sora, was easily recognised. Apparently the normal limits his other had to put up with didn't apply to him.  
It felt good to be back in a familiar place again. He'd stored away his robe for now, back to his more casual look, and even found out a skateboard.  
Right now, he was looking for Kairi. She needed to be told what had happened to Sora, and be damned with whatever rules kept preventing Sora from doing it.  
He finally tracked her down at a small house on the southern edge of the town, a place he had never really ventured before. It was obviously a scholar's home. You could tell, the only things tidy were books, books that Kairi, Donald and Goofy all immersed in, apparently searching for something along side whoever the scholar was.  
Roxas let himself in quietly, not drawing attention to himself just yet.  
"I knew it was here somewhere!" the scholar exclaimed. "I thought I'd lost this old book."  
"We're meant to be searching for ways to help Sora," Kairi told him. "Not looking for old books."  
"Young lady, this old book happens to be the missing index of everything I have here, and more importantly where it all is. If anything, we'll find where we need to look from here."  
"Or you could ask me," Roxas told them, coming into view. "I know what's happened to Sora."  
Kairi was onto him in a moment. "Tell me! I have to know!"  
"Last time I saw him, he was putting up with having to work for a place called the Dark Arcology, not doing too bad for himself, but stuck with it's rules that means while he's outside of it, no one will recognise him. Except me, of course."  
"Why you?"  
He showed the markings on his wrist. "Sora has some as well, mine showed up because of that. I can ignore the rules he has to work with."  
"Fascinating," the scholar muttered. "May I examine them?"  
"Go ahead."  
He took out a magnifying glass and looked closely, took a few notes, then buried himself in a book again. Kairi rolled her eyes, then turned back to Roxas. "Is Sora alright?"  
"A bit annoyed about not being able to tell you himself. You met him, he said, but he couldn't tell you it was him."  
"Who did he tell me he was, do you know?"  
"Axel."  
"That was... and I didn't realise it..."  
"You couldn't have known," the scholar interrupted, not looking up. "No one could know except him, and anyone from the Arcology itself."  
"And me," Roxas added.  
There was a sound, not exactly a sound, more a feeling. He didn't like it. It meant trouble.  
Kairi picked up on it too. She was also a Keyblade Master, she could tell as easily as he could.  
She tapped Donald on the shoulder, who in turn nudged Goofy, then they all left, looking southwards. There was a bad feeling about this.  
He summoned his keyblades, he had a feeling he'd need him.  
Then he saw why. There was a hoard of Heartless descending on Twilight Town. Larger than he'd ever seen, it was like a black mass headed directly for them. Kairi stood stunned, watching it, then Goofy took her inside.  
"I'll keep us safe," he told her. "You coming Donald?"  
"You're going to fight them, aren't you?" Donald asked Roxas.  
"What else?"  
"Why?"  
"Sora isn't here to do it, so I'm taking care of it for him."  
"I'll help. You'll need it."  
"At least I have one ally against this hoard. It doesn't look like we have long."  
"I'll warn as many people as I can, get them to pass the word around. We'll be ready for them."  
"I hope so," he replied grimly. It didn't look as good as Donald made it sound.

Sora was impressed. He'd decided to test Jamie in a mock battle, and found his swordsmanship not only to be competent, but highly skilled – yet he claimed never to have picked up a sword before then. It just came naturally to him.  
This wasn't the definite proof he needed though, so he left again briefly, stopping by the little used Arcology Armoury, making a note of where it was (Floor 103, storage room 4B) and returning with a few spears, all practice ones so if Jamie did break through his defences, he wouldn't be hurt much.  
"I can't use those," he protested. "I've never even seen one before."  
"Try it. I don't know much about them either, so it'll be good for us both to learn from."  
"But Sora-"  
"I know, you haven't used them before. Just try it."  
"Alright... if you're sure."  
Sora handed him one, sticking the others into the earth nearby, then readying his keyblade to defend himself. Jamie held the spear inexpertly, staring at it blankly for a few moments, then he nodded, took a two handed grip at the far end, and jabbed sharply at Sora.  
He only just managed to jump clear in time.  
"Close," he muttered to himself.  
"I... did it right?"  
"More than right, expertly, I think."  
"Can we try again?"  
"Of course, just let me get up."  
Jamie made several more attacks with the spear, all of which were clearly not from the hands of a beginner, or someone who'd never seen one before now. Even he had trouble dodging some of them.  
"How did I do that?"  
"I think I know how. You've got some kind of latent talent, as soon as you pick up something, you know instantly how to use it."  
"That explains a lot of things... I always did seem to be good at everything."  
"Now you know why."  
"Maybe you should take these spears back."  
"Want me to get you a proper one from the armoury?"  
"You think I might need it?"  
"Better to have a weapon and not need it, than not having one and needing it."  
"Alright... nothing fancy though, just one that does the job."  
Sora nodded, porting himself there and replacing the training spears. The spear he picked out was made of an odd dark-green metal for both handle at spear tip, strangely light. The quartermaster looked at him oddly.  
"Something up?"  
"No one ever takes out spears. Especially not this one," he replied.  
"Why not?"  
"No one's ever been able to use it. Everyone who does, finds it vanishes from their hands, and reappears on the floor beside them. Some people looked into it a while ago. Apparently it can only be used by an impossibility."  
"How so?"  
"It's impossible to be an expert without having ever used one before."  
"I think I know who it's made for," he grinned back as the mark was made showing his signing it out. "I think I'm going to see him any moment now."  
"Good luck with that. People have searched for ages for it's wielder."  
"I've already found him," he replied, porting himself back.  
Jamie examined it curiously.  
"It's... different," he said finally. "I don't know how."  
"Try and attack me with it."  
"Are you sure?"  
"I'll dodge, I'll be fine."  
Jamie nodded, taking it up ready to stab again, and Sora prepared to move aside and block.  
He didn't get the chance, as Jamie stabbed, the air seemed to solidify into an arrow shape, hit him full on, and hurled him away, landing him somewhat painfully in a bush.  
"You'll be fine?" Jamie asked him, grinning.  
"I wasn't expecting it," he replied testily. "Get me out of here."


	9. Chapter 9

Kairi and Goofy had been forced to abandon Tom's house, taking him with them. He moaned over the potential loss of his vast store of information, but seeing as none of them could hold off the vaster store of Heartless, they had no choice, and met up with most of the townsfolk, Donald and Roxas in the centre of the town.  
Donald was recovering. He'd used all his magic, and exhausted himself. Roxas had refused to give in, taking on the hoard to keep them all as safe as he could. He was beside himself, not usually one to show anger, but right now, there were too many of them, and the strain of his efforts showed.  
Eventually, even he had to give up. No one had anything left to fight.  
Strangely, the Heartless stopped once they had surrounded them. Not a single person was missing, not a single heart consumed by them. They just surrounded them, forming an impenetrable barrier, preventing them from escaping, or anyone else from breaking in.  
No one seemed to have the slightest clue why they were acting so strangely for Heartless. No one understood why they were being kept prisoner here by them, or stranger still, why the Heartless seemed to being food and other such necessities.  
What was stranger yet, was that after a few hours of this, there was someone else on the other side heard distantly talking. Then, the Heartless parted ways to let two people through, closing again after them.  
Walking into the area still free from Heartless was Axel, wielding a strange looking keyblade, and a young boy, not much younger than Roxas and Sora, holding a tall, dark-green spear, and a confident expression.  
Roxas saw through it, and saw Sora where others saw Axel. Tired though he was from his long battle with the Heartless, he got up and headed over, ignoring anyone in his way.  
"Just what did you do to these Heartless?" He demanded of Sora.  
"Nice to see you too," he replied. "I didn't do anything to them. They're just accepting commands from me for some reason."  
"Some reason? It's not that easy to command Heartless, especially not if you've a heart, it's dangerous then."  
"You tell me why I can then, Roxas. You're the one who spent all that time around the Organisation, didn't they know plenty about them?"  
"As I remember it, Heartless can only be controlled by someone who either has an affinity for darkness and a very strong will. My guess is your Arcology power is enough to count as that affinity, and you've already got the will."  
"Guess that explains it."  
"So what are you doing commanding them to do this?"  
"I didn't do that!" he snapped back. "I told them to leave a farming community south from here-"  
"My home, Baxton," Jamie interjected, then looked embarrassed when both Sora and Roxas glared at him.  
"I told them to leave Baxton alone," Sora continued. "I didn't tell them anything else, and I certainly didn't tell them to come here and do all this!"  
"Fine. So who's the boy?"  
"I've sorta got a bit of a favour to ask about that, Roxas."  
"Why, what have you done _this_ time?"  
"I didn't do anything, honestly, anyone would think you thought the worst of me."  
"Sora!"  
"Alright, I'm getting to it. His name's Jamie, and I found him at Baxton. I was looking for him for Danny, but the Heartless got to him first. He's a Nobody, Roxas."  
"So you brought him to me because I know more than you about it. How nice of you."  
Jamie looked confused. "Wait, what? I'm a Nobody? What's that meant to mean?"  
"You didn't tell him?"  
Sora shuffled his feet slightly. "I wasn't sure how to explain it to him."  
"You get rid of these Heartless, and I'll figure it out."  
"Sure thing, won't take a moment."  
"At least that's useful..."  
Sora left them, returning to the Heartless. He tapped one on a shoulder to get it's attention, then stepped back instinctively when it looked at him with the empty yellow eyes.  
"I want you, and all the others to leave here, and stop bothering this place. Don't just move on to another place and terrorise them, just go back to whatever you were doing before you attacked me."  
It stared at him, unmoving.  
"I told you to move!"  
It remained still.  
"Leave, damn you!"  
Still no reaction.  
He kicked at it, annoyed, and even then it did nothing, so he took a swipe with the keyblade. It was destroyed, and another moved to take it's place, staring the same yellow eyes back at him again.  
"Roxas!" he called. His other joined him, still clearly irritated at him.  
"What now?"  
"They're not listening to me."  
"That usually means someone else has control of them."  
"You?"  
"No, of course not me. I already tried that."  
"Try it again?"  
Roxas sighed, calmed himself, then punched the closest Heartless to get it's attention.  
"Get out of here, you brainless idiots," he told it. "I don't want to see a single Heartless from anywhere in Twilight Town." As with Sora, it merely stared at him. "Happy now?" he asked, turning back to Sora.  
"So who does have control over them?" he wondered aloud.  
"I don't know, but you better find out. It sounds like you're the reason they're here in the first place, so go and fix it already."  
"Alright, I'm on it." He tried to port himself, and found nothing happened. The Heartless, or something, was blocking him. Ordering the Heartless to let him out still worked, though they wouldn't let anyone else out with him, even if he tried to order them to.  
This was very strange. Who else was left that could command them?

Sora decided he didn't have the patience or time left to waste on trying to figure out the Heartless' strange behaviour himself, and instead did what any good Second would have done.  
He went immediately to the Jobs Board, and left an entry bluntly asking anyone who felt they were up to it to investigate and report back to him with any findings. Within minutes, there were two takers, one he didn't know, the other was his still jealous friend Seifer.  
"Heartless hoards, the Organization – you do get yourself in a grand mess sometimes, don't you Sora?" he'd asked.  
"They're acting oddly, even for them. Someone's controlling them."  
"I hear that was you."  
"It was, now they're listening to someone else."  
"Interesting. Alright, I'll investigate, but there's something I want you to do for me in return. It's something even I don't have authority to do, Seconds and above only."  
"What's so special about it that only Seconds and Firsts can do it?"  
"One of the rules – porting to and from any craft airbourne, seabourne or spacebourne is expressly forbidden to Fifth rank and below."  
"Never heard of that one before."  
"Yeah, it's an obscure one. I understand it's something to do with movements and stuff, it didn't make much sense to me. Seeing how well you handle porting yourself though, you'll have no trouble."  
"So what's the problem?"  
"There's a ship that's meant to have arrived in port a while ago, but hasn't, the Destined Star. I was meant to meet one of the passangers, Lyle, from that ship, and when it didn't show up, I investigated. I don't know much, but it looks like a good number of people aboard are dead."  
"You want me to find out how many, if Lyle's among them, and bring him back if he's alive."  
"That's the idea, yeah. Can you do it?"  
"Of course I can do it, I can do anything."  
"Silly question to ask you, I guess. You go find Lyle for me, and I'll find out about your Heartless problem."  
"Done then."

The Destined Star turned out to be a cruise liner, and an impressive one at that. It was quite strange to see no one about at all, hear no sounds of the ship moving, except for the water washing against the side, and for everything to lay perfectly still. The only break was the sound of distant creaking.  
Sora appeared on the bridge with a slightly lurch, unaccustomed to the ship's slight rocking, and feeling a little queasy. It had been a while since he'd been on a ship of any kind.  
The bridge crew were definitely dead. They lay sprawled in their chairs or on the floor, all clutching at their necks, and all blue in the face. Clearly they hadn't gone a very nice way. Hopefully whatever caused it wasn't contagious.  
The bridge itself reeked of the smell from the rotting cadavers. It was all he could do not to have lunch make another appearance. He left the bridge quickly, getting out into the open, fresher air to recover.  
Seifer had given him a rough description. Apparently Lyle would be wearing a teal green shirt, and would have a red suitcase. The suitcase was the most important part of it all, he'd said, and that if Lyle was dead, return with that instead.  
While leaning over the rail, he glanced toward the back of the ship, and saw the source of the creaking.  
There was a chunk of it missing, exposing the inside. It didn't quite reach down to the water level, but it was enough the entire ship had tilted more to the other side for the inbalance. He wouldn't have noticed if he hadn't seen this.  
The waters were clear and calm, with no sign of anything in them that might cause this, but wary all the same, he approached the hole.  
It was jagged, some parts deeper than others. It looked like something had made huge bites, taking large bits of ship with it. The water nearby had some debris, but hardly enough to tell what did this.  
The exposed area showed a hall on the floor below, and a lot of the remains of quarters, some crew, some passanger. All of it was a mess.  
Uncertain of where to start looking, he reluctantly pulled out the same trick he'd used when looking for Jamie, this time modifying it to home in on anything alive, and not need to bounce. It took a while to get right.  
The upper decks were all devoid of life, but at the back of the ship, down near the ship's cargo hold, there seemed to be a lot of activity.  
There seemed to be no safe way to reach it from here, hoping he wouldn't get lost. Maybe there was a map somewhere.

Jamie sat deep in thought, the odd spear laid across his knees.  
Roxas had explained, rather bluntly in his irritation, what he was, and what it meant.  
He didn't feel anything about it, he just calmly accepted it. He didn't seem to be able to feel anything. Well, except for these Heartless... there was something about them, they didn't seem right. He could tell they were there.  
Then there was this spear. Very light, almost too light for what it should be, and the handle behind the tip was almost swordlike, as if it had been designed for a slashing attack as well. And the business with the air solidifying when he'd attacked Sora...  
The Heartless were somehow intriguing to him, he found, and got to his feet, approaching the black wall they had formed around this part of town. One turned around, it's baleful yellow eyes on him instantly.  
He stared back into them for a few moments, then looked away, examining the other kinds of Heartless here. The first one still watched.  
"I don't suppose you can talk, can you?" he asked it. It didn't react. "I didn't think so. You're like me. You can't feel anything either. No heart to feel things with. I wonder what would happen if you found the heart you were made from?" Still no reaction. It was either unwilling, or incapable of speech. "You're not going to let me out, either, right?"  
Finally, it reacted, shaking its head.  
"Not even if I order you to?"  
Shake again.  
"But you did for Sora."  
Nod.  
"Why?"  
No reaction. He realized it was only going to answer yes or no, and tried again.  
"There's something different about him, isn't there?"  
Nod.  
"Does Roxas have it too?"  
Shake.  
"It's the power he got from that arcology place, isn't it?"  
Nod.  
"And now someone else is commanding you."  
Nod again.  
"Someone Sora knows?"  
Another nod, but slower this time.  
"And Roxas too?"  
Shake.  
"Someone from the arcology place?"  
Nod.  
"But who... sorry, I know you can't answer that one."  
"That would be me," a soft voice answered from behind him.  
He turned, seeing an unusual looking person. He had long silver hair framing his face, wore a long black coat, and had a large navy wing on his right side.  
"No need to be alarmed," the stranger told him. "Though I understand as a Nobody, you can't be alarmed anyway."  
"What do you want?"  
"Oh, nothing much. I'm just stopping by to see what my Heartless are up to. I took control of them some time ago, but recently they were acting oddly, under another's influence. They don't seem to have caused any harm as such, so it's not all bad."  
"You can tell them to leave here then."  
"Now why would I do that? This is the perfect opportunity for me to find out just how far Sora is willing to go."  
"What do you mean?"  
"See, Sora and I have battled in the past. He usually beats me." He frowned, taking a seat on a nearby bench. "Always has, actually. Just once, I'd like to beat him for a change, but I digress. Sora became a part of my Arcology recently, and has already made a nice reputation for himself, in less than a week, he's almost a First among them. Quite impressive. But he's still reluctant to tap the full extent of the power he's got from it."  
"Your arcology?"  
"Well, not actually mine, it took me some time ago, and I made my way to it's pinnacle over time. Since I'm now at the top, it's mine now. That's not the point though. Sora could do a lot more, if he was willing. So, I'm using this situation, which rather ironically was caused by him, as a chance to see if he's willing to let... certain things happen, or stop them by using his full power, making him more powerful, possibly more powerful than me."  
"Why?"  
"I do believe I just answered that."  
"Why do you want to make him do something he doesn't want to do?"  
"Ah, I'm afraid on that, my lips are sealed, dear boy. I see you've found your spear."  
"It seems to have some kind of odd power."  
"Yes, elements. It's something I infused it with when I had it made. Concentrate on air, and you get a wedge of air, think about fire, and you'll have fire instead, and so on. Quite ingenious if I do say so myself, and very powerful in the right hands. Which are yours, of course."  
"You knew about me?"  
"Naturally. I designed it specifically for you. I had you turned into a Nobody specifically for this. I had planned on giving it to you myself, actually, but Sora kindly handled that for me." He got to his feet, looked Jamie over, then nodded to himself. "Yes, I think you'll do well with that. I'll be back later. If Sora stops by, do tell him I'm looking forward to meeting him for me. I'm sure he'll like to know."  
Without another word, he walked toward the wall of Heartless. They moved aside for him without needing his command.

He was homing in on the activity he'd sensed. It was darker down here, colder, and the creaking was louder. It reminded him of the labyrinth below the Arcology.  
There were more sounds now, faint voices, made unintelligible by the echoing. Sora kept as silent as he could, reluctantly drawing on a little more power to make himself less visible to others. If he had it right, anyone who did see him would look right past him  
He drew closer still to the voices, listening in, picking out words, phrases, a few sentences now.  
"... won't just hand it over," a male voice was saying  
A female voice replied, "You've no choice in the matter..." the next part was inaudible, then "... not a Foresight right now is because you don't..."  
"... not true. I just have no reason to."  
Sora turned a corner, then stopped, took in the scene ahead, and flattened himself against the darker side of the corridor, continuing his silent approach.  
Lyle, or at least someone who matched his description, was against the back wall of a large, unfurnished room, probably a cargo hold. Several people lined the walls, preventing his escape toward Sora, which was the only exit. On either side of him were what looked like two, rather fat, suits of armour, both holding a huge doubleaxe each, and beside each of them, in the corners of the room, two great stone obelisks. The red suitcase lay open beside Lyle, and a curious artefact was in his hands. It looked like a bottle, but was made of dark brown clay, and had intricate designs carved into it. The obelisks had the same designs on them.  
He reached the edge of the cover, unable to procede without getting seen, and paused to listen.  
"Just give it to me," the woman in charge said. It was a familiar voice... where had he heard it before? "You don't know how to use it, and you don't want to annoy me."  
"You're wrong," Lyle snapped. "I know more than you ever will about it. You're the kind of person I set out to protect it from."  
"Don't cross me. I have power you can't imagine." Sora recognised the voice finally. Merle.  
"Don't try my patience, or one of your people will become a Foresight."  
"So you'll change them over me?"  
"You've still got time to turn yourself in. Things will go far easier for you that way."  
"Never. Give me the artefact."  
The two stood at a standoff, Lyle apparently ready to use the artefact to turn the others with Merle into a 'Foresight', whatever that was, and Merle ready to try to sieze it.  
Sora decided he had to take action at this, but didn't want Merle to know it was him, not yet. There was another way. He tried something new, reaching back to his room at the Arcology, finding Roxas' Organization robe in his wardrobe, and porting it directly to him, rather than getting it himself. He stepped back into deeper shadows to ensure he wouldn't be seen, then pulled it on, pulling up the hood, but leaving the robe open. Concentrating his power on keeping him unseeable even in plain sight, he strode confidently into the room, noting that no one reacted, then stood between Lyle and Merle. He faced Lyle, then with a dramatic flourish of the robe, released his focus on being unseeable and turning to face Merle.  
"Stop where you are," he told her, doing his best not to sound like him.  
"Get out of my way," she retorted sharply.  
"You're ordered to stand down."  
"On who's authority?"  
"On the authority of the First, Danny, of the Dark Arcology, your First."  
"I choose to ignore the orders," she replied, hands going to her hips, and a sneer crossing her face.  
"There will be consequences to your action."  
"They'll have to catch me first."  
Sora felt her try to port, and used his own power to block it.  
"I already have," he told her. He shook the hood back, revealing himself, and drawing the keyblade, pointing it directly at her neck. "I order you again; stand down immediately."  
"You!" she snapped. "You, you little thief!"  
"I've stolen nothing, and you know it. The only thief here is you, trying to steal from him." He jerked his head at Lyle behind him. "Now either knock it off, or I'll take care of you myself."  
"I don't recognise your power," she retorted. "I don't even believe you're meant to be where you are, you caused me to lose everything, and be dropped right back to second rank."  
"Unless you want to be a first rank, you better start reconsidering that quick."  
"You wouldn't dare! I brought you into the Arcoloy, I gave you the position you had, I gave you everything you could need, and you lost me my position."  
"You lost it yourself by breaking the rules, Merle. Last warning. Stop and leave, and take your friends with you."  
"Not without the artefact."  
Sora sighed. He hadn't wanted to do this, but there was no choice. "Merle, as your Second, I hereby reduce you in rank to a first rank. You're ordered to come here immediately and take the mark of it."  
She couldn't disobey now. He concentrated once on her mark, removing the rank sign, and creating a collar instead. Rather fittingly, he thought, it was in a pure black.  
"What of us?" one of her friends asked.  
Sora examined them each in turn, relaxing his block on porting. "Go back to the Arcology, and whatever you were doing before you came with Merle. If you weren't doing anything, you better find something before I decide to find out what you're up to, and I don't want to see any of you ever looking for this artefact without the permission of your First or Second."  
They each shared a look, then nodded to him and ported away.  
"What about me?" Merle, now sullen, asked him.  
"You're going to try that again, and do it right."  
She stared at him, and almost retorted, but thought better. "What about me, master Sora?"  
"Better. You'll stay with me until I say otherwise. Now then," he turned around. "Mister Lyle, I presume. I'm here on behalf of Seifer."  
"That's me... you're from the Arcology too?" Sora showed his markings, identifying himself. "So you are. I'm a fifth rank under the First, Sand." Lyle now showed his markings. His was of a dragon's head.  
"Seifer said you were meant to meet him when the ship made port, and that if something had happened to you-"  
"The suitcase, yes. I took a mission for his First, to retrieve this artefact, except I've had nothing but trouble since getting it. The ship was attacked by some monster creature, and those that weren't killed by it have been poisoned, somehow that poison spread and killed everyone aboard. I was able to protect myself from it."  
"Are we in any danger?"  
"No, once I was the only one left aboard, I was able to purge it."  
"Good. What about these odd statues, and the talk of Foresights?"  
"You've answered your own question," he smiled. "This artefact can turn people into Foresights, which is what these are. They're highly powerful, but have to be given orders specifically, as the original mind behind them is lost unless they're changed back."  
"These were..."  
"Oh, these were two people with me, they willingly went through with it to help protect me from her. Sora, I fear the monster may be returning, and we need to get off the ship before it does."  
"I don't think I can port all of us from down here. Maybe from the main deck."  
"I agree. I'll change these two back, then we'll be on our way."  
Sora nodded leaving him to it, and turning back to Merle.  
"What did you think you were doing, coming here? I assume you ported yourself, in violation of another rule."  
"Yes master Sora," she replied. "I did it because I wanted my old position back."  
"You'll never learn your lessons that way. From now on, you'll have to work hard and earn the right to move up through each rank, no jumps."  
"But master-"  
"No buts. This isn't for you to negotiate."  
"You make a good Second," she told him with a faint smile.  
"Good... I hope so. Are you done Lyle?"  
"Done, we're all ready to go."  
"Then lets get out of this place before I have to reduce anyone else's rank."


	10. Chapter 10

Sora had found his memory of the route here was better than he thought, leading them out the same we he'd come in.  
Along the way, he paused, sensing something large off to one side of the ship, wondering what it was, then remembered he hadn't turned off his power, the part that was looking for any nearby life. He'd completely forgotten about it.  
Whatever it was, it was huge, and it didn't feel like it was going to just let them leave.  
He didn't mention it to the others, continuing on their way out.  
"What is that smell?" one of Lyle's aides asked as they got nearer.  
"Probably the bridge crew. They were stinking something horrible when I got here."  
"No, it's not that, we smelled that too. It smells worse."  
Sora took a sniff, then almost choked.  
"Yeah... that's not the crew..." he breathed. "Lets get up on deck... maybe we'll find out what it is."  
"Master Sora," Merle called to him. She'd been travelling behind them, watching their backs. "Perhaps we shouldn't go there, in case there's danger to us all." Sora rolled his eyes where the others couldn't see.  
"Of course there's danger. This ship gets attacked by some giant creature, and there's something out there that's probably it."  
"I think what she means is the rest of us should keep clear until you can be sure it's safe," Lyle murmured.  
"Could, but I might need a hand. Are you any good in a fight, Lyle?"  
"I used to be a fair archer once, long before the Arcology claimed me, but I've since lost my touch, I'm afraid."  
"And your aides?"  
"New enough not to be ready. I'm training them to help me along in my various research around my orders."  
"Guess it's up to me then. Wait here, I'll come and get you when I'm done, unless any of you care to lend a healing hand if you start hearing screaming."  
"Charming thought."  
There was a crashing crunch from outside, making the entire ship shake and tip over even more, forcing them to scramble quickly to find purchase on some surface, and grab hold of anything to keep upright.  
When it subsided, the hallway was almost at a 45 degree angle to before.  
"Everyone alright?"  
"We're fine, Sora," Lyle insisted. "Go on, we'll be alright."  
The remains of the deck was scattered with debris. He had to grab whatever was still in place in order to climb to the top of the newly gaping hole in it, and almost fell off when he saw what had caused it, still nestling in part of the hole.  
It looked like a piece of seaweed had grown too large, and grown snake-like heads on the ends of each of the five strands sticking up out of the horrible green base. A blue liquid dripped from rows of teeth inside, each one sharper than a shark's tooth for certain. One head spotted him, darting towards him with surprising speed, and he jumped clear, landing easily on the remains of a partition between two cabins. He let himself draw on the power for the reflex boost again, allowing him to react even quicker, and in leaps and bounds, made his way over the wreckage toward the base of this creature.  
Unexpectedly, one of the heads reacted quick enough to block his passage, hissing in his face, but before he even had the chance to be overpowered by it's breath, he'd already jumped clear, finding an alternative route.  
Again, he was blocked, but this time he took a chance and landed on the head, out of sight of it, and had to grab hold of it's scaley back as best he could to keep from being thrown off, as it thrashed wildly around. He was further challenged by the other heads trying to snap at him and push him off.  
One hand lost it's grip, making it harder, but also freeing it for the keyblade. The scales only covered the head, leaving the neck, if it was a neck, vulnerable. He took a swipe at the first one that lunged at him, causing it to rear back in pain with a peircing shriek, a shrill, high pitched scream that sounded like it would rend the very air itself. A spurt of dark green... stuff came out of the wound he'd caused.  
Another head shot at him, no more wary than the last, and also snapped back after he'd injured it too. He saved the stem he was on for last, taking as firm a hold as he could in one hand, then cutting deep into it.  
The head screamed and thrashed, flinging him off and up into the air. He hurredily ported himself to the relative safety of a bit of the wreckage, then as the heads were all licking at each others wounds, causing them to rapidly clot and heal, he took the chance to jump down onto the squidgy base the heads all met at, found the nearest, and hacked into the thicker trunk down here.  
He was rewarded with a blast of the green stuff over him, but couldn't stop there. The screaming had started again, and it looked like one head was almost done healing itself.  
He'd carved a big enough hole here, so quickly traced the stem of the one that was already starting to cast about for him, and began to attack the base of it's trunk too, cutting as far in as he could, and then dragging it through and round, circling it in an attempt to completely sever this one. He had to keep glancing up to watch them, and make sure none of them were almost done, and every time one began to look for him again, he quickly distracted it by cutting into it too. It evidently hurt more here, as they couldn't seem to do anything but scream and thrash as he cut into them.  
Finally, he finished cutting through this one base, and with a push from everything he had to push with, it toppled over into the water, spraying more of the green gunk everywhere. It lay unmoving, defeated.  
He was thoroughly covered in this gunk by now, but didn't let up, one of them had already recovered enough to spot him, and shot down toward him. He leaped clear, behind another trunk so it couldn't see him. When he risked a glance out, he found all four remaining heads licking at the stump that was left, stopping it from spilling out what he assumed was their equivilent of blood.  
While they were distracted, he found the the trunk with the most damage he'd done to it, cut in, and continued, ignoring the screams from this creature, and even more gunk, eventually felling it alongside the other dead head.  
Two of the remaining heads left the first, one going to this new wound, and the other orienting on him. With two trunks down, he was left without any place to hide from this one, instead being forced to jump clear as it shot toward him, and hack into it's neck, sending it snapping back upwards with another screech. Both the other heads turned on him now, their work apparently done, as the gunk was no longer flowing.  
This wasn't turning into a fair fight. He was already winded from his efforts this far, and now they all had their attention focused on him.  
With a sudden inspiration, he let his power build up, channeled it through the growing irritation at these things, and pushed it out through one hand, held palm up toward one of the heads.  
From it shot a white-hot fireball that caught the head squarely in the face. The blue liquid from it's mouth burst into more flames, which then reacted with the original fireball, setting the entire head ablaze. Both the other heads drew back from this searing blaze; they did _not_ like fire one bit.  
Their distraction gave him the opportunity he needed to turn his attention back on the trunks.  
He focused his power once more, in the same way, but this time shaping it, rather than into fire, into air, forming it into a blade of solidified air, then threw it toward one of the trunks. It was cleanly severed in an instant, clearly shocking the remaining head. The one on fire succumbed to the raging inferno, collapsing limply into the water where the fire lit the remaining blue stuff that had been floating on top of the water, the rest going out.  
The last head regarded this, then looked down, seeing Sora already building up his power a third him. It's last thought was watching him send another chunk of air right through the base of it's trunk.  
The ship creaked slightly, as the full weight of the creature was no longer on it. If he waited too long to get the others out, the liner would tip over.  
Despite still being covered in green stuff – there'd be time to clean up later – he hurried on back up the wreck to the top, only to find the others had already moved outside to another spot near the top, as it was safer.  
"You look terrible," Lyle called over to him.  
"You should have tried taking on that thing," he called back.  
"No thanks," he grinned, but it faded to a more serious expression quickly. Sora ported himself over to join them, almost losing his balance on the precarious edge between the tilted deck, and the remains on the other side, but just keeping it.  
"We've got to get off the ship, it's going to tip any moment."  
"I'll take the artefact and my aides. You and Merle get back to your part of the Arcology. I'll check in with Seifer for you."  
"Thanks, Lyle."  
"Thank you, Sora. You got me out of two sticky situations in one day, first Merle here, then that creature."  
The ship creaked again, already starting to sink slightly.  
"Go, Lyle!"  
Lyle nodded, vanishing with his two aides. Porting to and from a ship might be forbidden, but getting off the ship was more important. Besides, he reasoned if that counted as an order to do it, it would get around the rule.  
Without wasting any more time, He took one of Merle's hands, making her cringe back from the gunk, and he ported them directly to the bathroom in his part of the Arcology. It would be easier to clean the floor in there.  
Merle immediately went to the sink and washed off her hands.  
"Do you need me for anything else?" her tone indicated she was still not entirely happy with her situation.  
"Tell me something I never asked before. What exactly happens about laundry around here?"  
"There's a room four doors down with a sign on it marking it as the laundry room." Her shoulders slumped slightly and her face showed the discontent, knowing what he'd ask, but continued, "I assume you want me to take your clothes there for cleaning?"  
"That's right, but I'd appreciate it if you'd wait until I got them off first. Grab a change from the wardrobe for me while I get in the shower. It doesn't matter which one. I'll leave these here for you to take. Don't worry about any mess on the floor, I'll clean that up later, you're free to go after you've got these washing. Make sure you go to the Registry and get your new rank sorted. Again."  
"As you wish."

"You look terrible, Sora. What happened to you?"  
"You wouldn't believe me, Danny. I think more's happened to me already this week than before."  
"Coffee?"  
"Please."  
"Good, because I just made you one. Go ahead, tell me about it."  
"First the Heartless started listening to me and taking commands from me. Roxas thinks the Arcology's power counts as some kind of affinity for darkness, which is all I needed to do it."  
"Interesting."  
"Yeah, well, now they're camped on Twilight Town, not listening to me any more, under someone else's influence, and Roxas, Jamie and the others are all trapped there. I can get in and out, but that's all, I can't port there or back and I can't get anyone else out."  
"Inconvenient," Danny murmured. "Go on."  
"I stuck up a note on the jobs board to get people to investigate it for me, waiting to hear back from that. Seifer was one of the takers, he got me to look into something else for him. Someone he was meant to meet who never turned up."  
"I heard about that, actually. Rumour has it that he was being threatened by our Merle."  
"They're not just rumours. I had to reduce her rank again to get her to stop it, and protect the artefact Lyle had. Then to top it all off, on the way out, this monster thing that attacked the ship, the entire reason it never arrived at the dock, attacked again, and I had to deal with it, and got covered in it's gunk. I still don't feel clean even after two showers."  
"Trouble does seem to follow you around, doesn't it? You're changing, too."  
"What do you mean?"  
"What you did to Merle. That doesn't seem like the same you that first joined us. You're starting to accept the power and authority together and use them the way they're meant to be used."  
"I had to do it. She wasn't listening, she wasn't taking orders."  
"You did do it though. You didn't try to reason with her, or use force, instead you pulled rank." Danny stared into his cup for a few moments, then in a slightly distant tone, he continued, "The Arcology changes people, even me. No one is the same once it's got a claim on them. It leaves it's mark, even on those people who get forced to forget us and kicked out. Some accept it, some don't, but it happens all the same. There's no easy way back from it. Just hope it changes you in a good way."  
"That's a gloomy thought."  
"Someone had to mention it. You're starting to change, some of your ways, your habits, picking up new ones, dropping some older ones... I just don't want you to turn out badly from it."  
"Don't worry about it. I'll be fine, you know me. Coffee?"  
"Are you offering to make one?"  
"Why not, it's not like there's anything I can do."  
"Until you get the reports from your job on the board."  
"Yup. Time to kick back again after that ordeal on the ship."  
"Go on then. I could use a break this time."  
"Take one, I'll keep things going for you."  
"Thanks Sora."  
"Don't mention it. Why don't you let me cook everyone dinner for a change too?"  
"It's late enough, go ahead. Just ask me if you need a hand, and try not to burn anything."  
"Me? Would I do that?"  
Danny just laughed.

The next two days crawled past, and the end of the week dawned slowly. If dawned could be the right word, as the dark windows never changed, and the time in the Arcology always seemed to be slightly off from outside.  
Over those past two days, he'd discovered Dog had finally got the rank up he'd sought for four long years, and that Merle, already sulking in a foul mood because of her situation, refusing to talk to anyone unless she had to. Danny had taken her aside this morning, and had quiet words with her. She left that conversation looking distinctly shaken. All Danny would say was 'that it was necessary' she listened to it.  
The Heartless were still camped on Twilight Town. Nothing would budge them in the slightest, yet the still remained to cater to the needs of those stuck with them. He'd given up trying to find explanations, instead waiting for the report from Seifer about it. The other person who took it had come back with several injuries, having not been able to stand up to an attack by some Heartless, and without anything helpful.  
As things were otherwise quiet, he was left with nothing much to do but lounge around. While he didn't mind this, he also admitted that Danny had been right, he'd changed a bit, and he found himself wanting to get back into doing something again.  
His eyes fell on the desk computer in his room. He hadn't touched it once yet, so flicked it on, and watched it start up, not really paying much attention to it until it flashed 'system ready' on the screen.  
Time to try something he'd seen once, and wasn't sure if it would work.  
"Computer?"  
It beeped, signifying it was paying attention, he reasoned.  
"Show me... show me about the Arcology's store of artefacts and relics."  
He'd been curious about this since seeing the artefact Lyle had retrieved for the Arcology, and had been meaning to find out more.  
The screen flickered, showing more information already.  
Apparently, there was a branch of the Arcology that sought out and retrieved various artefacts that were known to have magic or magic-like effects, and that they were kept safe and preserved in the Reliquary, a place forbidden to all, except on rare occasions. Reports suggested there were close to three hundred relics in there, with a wide assortment of abilities between them.  
His glancing through was interrupted by a knock at the door.  
"Come on in," he called. Seifer joined him, looking decidedly weary, and sprawling into one of the squashy armchairs. "Coffee?"  
"Stronger the better," he replied as Sora began to make it.  
"So what brings you to my little place?"  
"I've got a report to give you, remember? You aren't going to like it."  
"I didn't think I was going to when those Heartless first started ignoring me."  
"Yeah, well, this makes it worse. What do you know about the ranks and structure of the Arcology, Sora?"  
"First rank through fifth rank, Seconds, Firsts, then those Authoritor people in someplace above."  
"Ever heard of the Upper Management?"  
"No, why?"  
"It's the system above the Firsts. Not many people know much about it, normally only Firsts find out, though there's no actual rules preventing talking about it. It's just not done." Sora handed him a steaming cup of coffee, settling into the other armchair. "Thanks. That's perfect."  
"Don't mention it. I've made more cups of coffee here when people stop by to talk to me than I have at Danny's café."  
"You're not half bad at it either. Anyway, where was I?"  
"The Upper Management."  
"Yeah. Well, immediately above the Firsts, there's the Overseers, there's one on each floor. No one quite knows what they do, and those people who've been called in to see one, always say that you should wish you never have to. No one wants to talk about it. Right above them, the Authoritors, the ones who handle punishments, rulings, legal stuff and so on. If you ever go bounty hunting for rogue members, it's always one of them you take the bounty to."  
"How often to they actually intervene in something?"  
"Only if it's necessary, as I understand it. Beyond here, it's a lot of guesswork, so this next bit might be inaccurate. Above both of those two, there's a council of some kind, and two advisors at it's head, that report to the one person at the top of it all; the Grandmaster."  
"Interesting, but how's this fit into the report on the Heartless?"  
"It's the Grandmaster controlling them, Sora. If half of what I've manage to scratch up is true, he rules the works, has a veto that can overrule everyone, and doesn't like things going against him. Those Heartless are there for as long as he decides he wants them there."  
"Does nothing go my way outside anymore?" he burst out in exasperation.  
"Easy there. I hear tomorrow you've got your visit from the Authoritor again to see if you're becoming a First or not, and if you do, then you get to ask the Grandmaster in person. Just don't let on you already know about the Upper Management before they tell you. I might get in trouble over it."  
"I've completely forgotten already."  
"Thanks Sora. I owe you one."  
"Did you check in with Lyle?"  
"Yeah. He said you looked almost as green as the creature did after killing it."  
"You owe me another one for that thing."  
"Hey, what? I didn't know it was there," he protested.  
"Well, tough. Neither did I. I didn't plan on going for a fight while protecting an artefact either, but it happened.  
"Oh, alright then. I owe you two."  
"Yep. Another coffee?"  
"Nah, I've got to get going. I've got to go stop by the infirmary for an appointment again. I wish they'd leave me alone for a bit, I swear they get a kick out of annoying me as much as they can."

Once Seifer had left, he'd considered the options. He now knew who was controlling the Heartless, but not why. He had a potential means of reaching the Grandmaster tomorrow, if the review was good.  
He'd decided another visit to town was needed. Maybe now that he knew who it was, he could do something about it.  
Jamie met him as the Heartless parted for him.  
"There was someone here a couple days ago," he said by way of greeting. "Said you'd want to know he stopped by."  
"Who was he?"  
"He didn't give his name, but he looked pretty unique. Had a blue wing, silver hair, and a black coat."  
"Sephiroth," Sora identified him, knowing that description.  
"He said he was the one controlling the Heartless."  
"What?"  
"That's what he said. He also said the Arcology-"  
"He's the Grandmaster, I know now," he finished absently. So now he know more about who, but still nothing more about why.  
"He also said he made this spear specifically for me."  
"Did he say what he was up to?"  
"Something about testing you, I think."  
"Typical of him. Where's Roxas?"  
"He might not want to talk to you right now, Sora. He's still a bit annoyed at you for making the Heartless come here."  
"Unsociable of him," he muttered. "Least he could do is listen to me."  
"I could take a message?"  
"Too much trouble. And I'm feeling lazy right now."  
They stood staring at the Heartless for a few silent minutes, the only sounds coming from the various townsfolk behind them. It hadn't been comfortable, but at least the weather had stayed good.  
"I'm gonna go back to the Arcology. If I stop by tomorrow, let me know if Sephiroth turns up again will you?"  
"Of course."  
Jamie watched him leave without a change in his expression.

Sora waited impatiently. He'd had trouble sleeping, knowing what was coming today. Breakfast had been fairly normal, until Karen joined them. She told them she'd interview certain of the others in turn, then come to him last.  
Now he was pacing in his room. She only had three others to talk to, Merle, Dog and Danny. How long did it take? It'd been nearly three hours.  
Finally, she let herself in, not bothering to knock.  
"Do Authoritors always come in unannounced, or did they just forget how to knock?" he asked, trying to keep irritability out of his voice.  
"You were expecting me to come by anyway," she pointed out. "And I knew you'd be impatient, so I skipped the formality."  
"Still... drink?"  
"Not while I'm working, thank you all the same. Now, you know what this is about?"  
"Naturally."  
"Good. You'll be pleased to know that so far, everything is in your favour, though you're not meant to know that just yet. I just have a few questions for you, then I'll be able to make the judgement."  
"What do you need to know?"  
"If I can sit down, for a start. Would you mind?"  
Taken by surprise, it took him a few moments before gesturing to a chair, taking one himself. "I guess I forgot about that," he confessed.  
"You were more worried about my not knocking, it's understandable." She took out a clipboard, unclipped a pen, and poised it ready to write. "Danny tells me you pulled rank recently, on your former First?"  
"She had ported to a ship, in violation of a somewhat obscure rule, was threatening another Arcology member, and ignored my ordering her to stop."  
"Why that method? Why not try to reason with her?"  
"There didn't seem to be much point," he shrugged. "She wouldn't listen, and was insistant on my having stolen her position. It seemed clear she wasn't going to change her mind."  
"And how did you come to know about the rule forbidding porting to the ship?"  
"Seifer told me, when he asked me to go there in his place. He'd have gone, except he falls foul of the rule as well."  
"Seifer, the fifth rank under Swordsman?"  
"Yeah, him. Knew him before here as well."  
"And how are you adjusting to life here?"  
"It's... different. I miss my old friends still. Haven't quite gotten used to everything here yet either, especially not having the ranks and everything. Some people see the markings and look almost afraid of me."  
"You're a Second, you can give orders to anyone, regardless of their owner. There have been Seconds before that abused that. How did you feel when you realised your friends would never recognise you again?"  
"Shocked. Couldn't believe it, and still don't. There's probably a way, I just haven't found it yet. I wish I could tell them. I can't though."  
"You realise that's not exactly in your favour?"  
"I know. I figure honesty's better than trying to lie my way upwards."  
"You've just more than covered that mark against you with that statement, Sora. Last question."  
"Go ahead."  
"You know Dog has been trying to get his promotion out of the first rank for several years. He tells me you were responsible for his achieving this. How, exactly?"  
"Oh, I didn't do anything. I just suggested to Danny that maybe it was time to properly recognise all he'd done, and give him what he deserves to have; a better rank."  
Karen nodded one last time, writing away on the clipboard, flicking back and forward through several pages, writing some more, then finally clipping the pen back to it and getting to her feet.  
Impatience and curiosity got the better of him. "Do I get it?"  
"Patience, Sora. There's someone else who has to be present first, and we're going to see him now."  
"Danny, isn't it."  
"What makes you say that?"  
"If I've got it, then he'll go back to being a Second, so he has to be present when you change the marks over."  
"Interesting reasoning."  
"So am I right?"  
"Wait and see."


	11. Chapter 11

Danny, was indeed the missing 'someone else' who had to be present, but still Karen didn't answer him. She let them to one of the elevators, taking out a key and placing it in a keyhole below the normal controls. The panel of controls retracted, sliding aside to be replaced by a second, different set with only four options on them. Each had only a number, nothing more.  
Sora and Danny shared a look, but he seemed to know no more than Sora did. Evidently whatever was happening, even he didn't understand.  
At Karen's push of button three, the panels returned to normal, and she retrieved her key, the elevator humming into life.  
"It won't be more than a few moments to arrival," she told them.  
"Arrival where?" Danny's question echoed Sora's thoughts, but Karen gave no reply.  
Nerves began to grow on him. Had he done something wrong? Was the offer of being a First just a snare?  
He shook himself, pushing that thought from him. Of course it wasn't, it made no sense for anyone to do that. Except Sephiroth... unless Sephiroth didn't know, but that hardly seemed likely. If he really was the one at the top, then surely he'd know at least of him, if not Roxas' appearance, in the Arcology.  
The elevator stopped, doors opening onto a massive vaulted hall. It reminded him of a church, but without the benches, and with a blank white tiled floor that seemed out of place among the darker coloured walls. Dark windows surrounded every wall, sparks playing over them occasionally with a faint accompaniment of thunder. In alcoves set along each wall stood Roman style pillars with statues atop them, in full colour, depicting various men and woman. Past Grandmasters, perhaps?  
"Come with me, and don't stray over the blue lines on the floor," Karen told them, now striding confidently ahead.  
"After you," Danny murmured to Sora, gesturing after her. He too seemed nervous, but hid it far better than Sora did.  
As they walked, he noticed other coloured lines along the floor, always in pairs, and perpendicular to each other. A red set lead to a small, unimportant looking door off to their left behind them, while lime green ones led to a matching but otherwise normal door opposite it.  
Following the blue lines, he saw they led to a junction ahead, where the left branch turned yellow and headed to some wooden doors marked with 'GMQ' one. It was anyone's guess what 'GMQ' meant.  
The right branch was black, a stark contrast to the white tiles. It led to a bronze door, or at least one that looked bronzed, that was unmarked. Two men, clearly dressed as guards, stood watch over it, unmoving. There was no reaction to them passing by, they merely stood. It was somehow unsettling.  
The center path continued blue, and lead to massive ornate double doors, with intricate patterns laid out on it in golden lines, with yet more patterns in a shimmering silver. Among the patterns he could clearly make out the outlines of a Lion and a Bear on the left door, and on the right, a Wolf and an Owl. The doors were fully four times their height, and wide enough to accommodate at least a small army. Every spark that showed over a window accented different parts of the door and it's designs, making it almost seem to move of it's own accord. It was an impressive sight, and it left them both speechless, stopped in their tracks.  
Karen paid no attention, continuing to the door, then stopping and turning to face them.  
"You know, everyone does that when they first come here?" she asked. "It took me a while before I could move again. You two, on the other hand, have an appointment to keep. They're waiting for us."  
Almost reluctant to leave the view of the door, Danny tore his eyes off it, and tugged on Sora's arm to pull him away too. Nerves had been forgotten in the face of this wonder, but once he got past it, they returned in force, and with interest. He did his best to hide it.  
"I thought you'd never get here," Karen grinned as they met her at the vast base of the door. "Come. Almost there."  
The doors seemed to move easily at her touch, until he realised she wasn't touching them at all. Her power, probably. Beyond lay another hall, the same width and height, but it was considerably shorter from here to the only other door. Tables and chairs lay scattered around. Three people were seated at one of them.  
"About time you showed up, Karen," one called. "They're getting impatient."  
"Ah, don't be so hard on her," another told the first. "You know she likes to cover everything."  
"Don't you old coots have anything better to do?" Karen asked them with an arch look.  
"Nope, we're waiting to see what'll come of this."  
She shook her head, but with an amused look as the strangers watched them pass to the other doors. Unlike the previous ones, they were unadorned of gold and silver, instead made of a plain dark wood with ornate carvings in. These too, she pushed aside, then stood aside for them to enter.  
"Wait here until I call you. You'll know when," she whispered to them, closing the doors behind them.  
The room was dark, except for an area lowered down into the floor ahead, and specifically a curved table in that area. It looked a bit like an overlarge banana, Sora thought, then wondered why he'd thought that.  
It was divided into two halves, three people seated on either side, their faces hidden in the shadows. Between the two groups sat a further three, two seated on chairs that were raised slightly above the others, then the center one practically a throne in it's own right, again raised up slightly more upon a small dais. The occupant was shielded from view in the darkness, making it impossible to tell who it was. Sora suspected he already knew.  
In front of the table was a small stand, not unlike a witness stand in a courtroom, raised on the same level as the dais opposite. There was no seat, only three panels of wood, and a small area to place any notes in front.  
Karen took the stand, and waited.  
"Who are you, who stands before us?" one voice asked.  
"I am Karen, duly appointed Authoritor of the Council," she intoned formally.  
"Why do you stand before us?"  
"I bring the two Council chose to meet at this time, as the Council required of me."  
"Then proceed with your duty."  
"As you command." She stepped out of the stand, and over to one side. "I call Danial May Time the First to the stand.  
"That'd be me," Danny muttered "Don't tell anyone you know my real name."  
"Good luck," Sora whispered back, growing more nervous. It was starting to look like a courtroom trial.  
"Confirm your identity," Danny was told.  
"I am the First, Danial May Time, also known as Danny. I came to the Dark Arcology by way of Merle, who is no longer a First, and was named her Second. When she was stepped down, I took her place on a temporary basis."  
"The basis being that another was selected to take her place but was ineligible, correct?"  
"That is correct."  
"You do not wish to take this position permanently?"  
"Only if there is no alternative available to me."  
"You know who the selected is, do you not?"  
"I was present at the time of his being chosen, yes."  
"Do you believe he is capable of the tasks you currently undertake?"  
"More than capable. I believe he could be a First that stands out among them all, a shining example of how a First should be, and what a First should do."  
"You may step down."  
He nodded, and took a place opposite Karen. Now on the left of it, she stood, and on the right, Danny.  
"Call forth the other chosen to be here, Authoritor."  
"As you command. I call the Keyblade Master, Sora, to the stand."  
Keenly aware of how alone he felt, put in the spotlight as he walked the stand, trying to mask the nerves that almost erased clear thought, he tried to calm himself, and stood before the Council appearing, if not feeling, calm, composed and in complete control of himself.  
"Confirm your identity," he was told.  
He took his lead from Danny, swallowed, then speaking slow and clear so as not to stumble over words, stated, "I am the Second, Sora, under the First, Danial May Time, brought into the Dark Arcology by the same Merle that brought him here."  
"You were selected to be First, but instead you are Second. Why is that?"  
"I didn't qualify, having not been here the required week, that requirement now fulfilled."  
The members on one side leaned together, holding a hushed conversation briefly. Then finally, one of them spoke again. "Your claim to that requirement is accepted and verified. You are confirmed to be eligible for the position. You are aware there is a great responsibility placed upon you if you are granted this position?"  
"I am."  
"You may step down."  
Karen gestured for him to take her place, and returned to the stand herself.  
"Authoritor, what is your judgement?"  
"My judgement is that the Keyblade Master, Sora, is ready to take on the rights, responsibilities and priviledges of being a First, and that Danial Time should be returned to his prior rank, and serve Sora in the same capacity as he served Merle so well before."  
"The council will recess to consider this judgement. Await in the antechamber."  
Karen led them out again. The trio of strangers that had been there had now left, leaving them alone.  
"I wasn't aware this happened when a new First came to power," Danny said in a hushed tone as they took a seat each.  
"It doesn't happen often, and it's even rarer that the Advisors and Grandmaster are present as well. My guess is that it's something to do with Merle's rule breaking, and something special about you, Sora."  
"Me?"  
"You're a Keyblade Master, and there's rumours that someone is taking a personal interest in your actions here. Someone in there likes you."  
"How long do we have to wait?"  
"Patience, Sora. There's only ever been once when it took more than a few minutes. The debate that time took four days. Fortunately, that was some time ago, with a different Council, Advisors and Grandmaster. That was under the rather oddly named Grandmaster Toad."  
They sat in silence, waiting. There were no clocks here, making it impossible to tell how long.  
Their waiting was disturbed by what looked like a giant yellow fish swimming through the upper part of the hall.  
Karen sighed. "Ignore it, it's not really there. Someone's playing games again."  
"What kind of game does this?"  
"The kind where you have too many Authoritors with too much time on their hands, so everyone from below who comes up here is a target for any and all kinds of strange humour. I don't take part in it myself, but there's some oddballs up here that are never going to grow up."  
The door creaked open, and a head poked around. "The council is in session again. You're all required to be present."  
"We'll be there in just a moment," she told the head, which disappeared again. "Stay right behind me, one of you on either side."  
There didn't seem to be any apparent change in the room when they returned, taking up places behind her as she'd told them, right behind the stand.  
The figure on the throne stood. Sora recognised the silhouette. He already knew who it was, but this confirmed it.  
It stepped forward into the light, proving him right.  
"The Council's decision has been reached, the Advisors agree," Sephiroth said, his usual smirk over his face. "So now, it's put into effect. Authoritor Karen's judgement stands. Mister Time is granted the position he has done so well in before, and young master Sora... you will take his place among the ranks of the Firsts in my Arcology. I expect you'll have no trouble at all with it... I'll be watching you with interest, Sora."  
"The decision is made," the Council all said at once. "Clear the room."

Sora sat outside again, letting relief wash over him. Karen had given her congratulations to him, and then gone back to work, leaving him alone with Danny.  
"You alright there?"  
"Yeah... fine."  
"Big step up for you. You know if you need a hand, I'm here."  
"I know."  
"What's on you mind?"  
"Just letting it sink in." Something nagged at his mind. "No one sorted the markings."  
"Check again," Danny told him, showing his wrist. It once again sported the '2' marking him as a Second. Sora glanced as his own wrist, noting he had no rank marking there. Of course not, Firsts had the eyes. His eyes didn't feel any different though, and his vision didn't seem affected. The only difference was in the store of power he had access to. As with the jump from a third rank to being a Second, he could feel the massive difference.  
"I wonder if I could get in to see him," he mused.  
"Who?"  
"Seph- I mean, the Grandmaster."  
"What for?"  
"I think he has something to do with the Heartless."  
"That's a bold statement to make about your new boss, considering what just happened."  
Sora made sure there was no one around, then told him about Seifer's report.  
"If he's the one doing it, I've got to talk to him about it, and get him to stop it."  
"He may have a good reason for it."  
"Whatever it is, I don't like it. Kairi's there. Roxas is there, Jamie too. I've fought these things for ages, normally that just works, but there's something odd about his Heartless, he's up to something, I'm sure of it."  
"I think it'd be better if you left it a while. Knowing you though, you probably won't."  
"Your recommending I leave it, aren't you?"  
"Just give it a bit of time."  
"I don't really want to, I want to get it sorted."  
"That's up to you, of course. You're the First."  
Sora thought about it carefully for a few minutes, staring out of one of the dark windows.  
"Find someone up here who can help us, and see if you can get me in to see him," he said finally, giving his first order as a First.  
"I'll do what I can for you. No promises, but I'll try."  
"Thanks Danny."  
"Don't mention it. I won't let you down."  
He got up and left Sora, glancing back once before leaving the room, leaving Sora by himself.  
It seemed more and more often, he was by himself here. He'd taken Roxas out of the Arcology, his friends couldn't get in, and his new friends here didn't press their company on him unless they needed his advice. It left him wondering if all the Firsts were this lonely.  
He too got to his feet now, and went to one of the windows lower down, looking out. Views of various places faded in and out, few, if any, he recognised. Once he thought he saw Twilight Town with it's wall of Heartless in the centre, but it faded again before he could be sure.  
A spark lazily traveled down the window in front of him, the accompanying rumble making the floor nearby shake just enough to be noticed, then it faded. The view came into sharp focus. There was a hill with a town on, and it looked like the base of the Arcology, far below, was on a neighbouring hill.  
Just like when he'd been taken, he mused. He searched the far hill, watching, and saw a figure leaving it, headed toward the Arcology. Evidently they were being taken in.  
"Don't put up too much of a fight," he murmured, more to himself than the newcomer making his way down the path.  
"Odd sentiment, coming from you," someone behind him said. "You almost ended up fighting right up until Merle had broken you."  
"I gave in because there was no choice. That doesn't mean I think I made the right choice."  
"Interesting all the same." The stranger joined him at the window. He was fairly sure she was one of the Council, but couldn't be certain, as he'd not seen any of their faces.  
She had blonde hair, yellow-green eyes, and was dressed rather unremarkably. She had a skater kind of look about her. "I've been watching you since you first got here. You've made an impression on people you haven't even met yet, do you know that?"  
"I know I was getting a reputation early on."  
"The demoting of Merle you carried out has spread through the rumours like wildfire. Some people think you're someone to be afraid of, a harsh person who acts only in the interests of his own advancement. You've made a meteoric rise in the ranks in a short time. Not the quickest rise, but one of the quickest."  
"What do others think of me?"  
"Oh, there's various different ones. Some others think you're a maverick, out to change the way things are for us. A few up here think you're likely to find the way out you've been after, others think you'll run afoul of the Grandmaster, and of that, some think you'll fall to him, others think he'll fall to you."  
"If I do end up against him again, I won't lose. I've never lost to him yet, I'm not going to start now."  
"That's if you end up against him. Tread lightly around him, Sora. There are people he's consigned to being a first rank, and forbidden them from ever leaving that position unless he decides, and if he does that to you, you won't be able to fight it. Remember the power and authority here are linked, and those of the first rank can't challenge a ruling of anyone above them."  
"I don't plan to let him do it."  
"Like I said, tread lightly. You might hear from me from time to time. You've got my attention, so I'll know if you need me. Don't count on me though."  
Sora didn't reply, knowing she'd already left.  
A few minutes later, Danny returned.  
"You won't believe this."  
"Try me."  
"He already knows you want to see him, and he's waiting for you."  
Sora grinned to himself. "I guess I'd better go see him then. Where do I go?"  
"The Grandmaster's Quarters, of course. It's the door marked 'GMQ' in that huge hall."  
"I should have guessed. You go on back down below, Danny, I'll stop by and let you know what happens."  
"You don't have to you know."  
"You're my Second, and I'm new to this. I'd feel more comfortable knowing I can at least talk with you over it."  
"I understand. I hope your meeting with him goes well."  
"So do I."

Unlike the rest of these upper floors, the Grandmaster's Quarters were brightly furnished, no hint of darkness about them except for Sephiroth himself. Even the windows weren't darkened, though this was because he'd forced them to show wherever he wanted to see outside, which at the moment was giving him a panoramic view of Twilight Town and surrounds, allowing streaming bright sunlight in.  
"I was wondering when you'd finally get here," he said, not turning around.  
"What are you up to now?"  
"Is that any way to say hello? I thought you better than that."  
"You already know me, I already know you. I'm just cutting to the chase."  
"Ah, I see. Come here, Sora, and have a look."  
Sora kept to the side without the wing, glancing down.  
"That's what I want to know about."  
"My Heartless. I understand your Nobody is there."  
"And someone I've an interest in, who said you told him you were testing me."  
"Did I say that? Oh dear. I must have slipped up. I'm doing nothing, Sora. Merely observing."  
"You can do it without them there."  
"Hmm, no, I think not. They're serving their purpose there quite well."  
"What'd that be then?"  
"Simple. Letting no one not of the Arcology leave. Oh, and there's the small matter that in two days, they're going to descend on everyone trapped there, and do what Heartless do best, except to the Nobodies, who will probably be all that's left. I'd say they'd be destroyed, but I specifically told them to leave Roxas and Jamie alone."  
"Why are you doing this?"  
"Because I want to know how far you'll go, Sora. How far will you go to save your friends there? Will you side with me, and leave them to their fate, or will you try to fight? If you plan to save them, you'll need to call on every drop of the power granted to you, and use it in ways you've not even thought of yet."  
"Are you insane? You'd let them consume every heart they can find, just to test me?"  
"That's what I'm planning, yes. Really, Sora, I thought you'd have caught on a lot quicker than that. I don't care a bit for any of them, I just needed a target that would motivate you enough to either save them, or leave them as a lost cause."  
"What are you going to do if I save them."  
"That depends on what you do afterwards. You'll have come into your own right then, you'll have used the power to the point where you can use it in ways no one else can. What you do might make you a threat to me, and if you were, I'd act accordingly."  
"And if I leave them?"  
"Nothing. I'll know I'll have gained another First that's loyal to my Arcology, not his life before it."  
"Has anyone ever told you you're cruel?"  
"Oh, probably. But if they did, they only ever did it once. Present company excepted, of course. Go and figure out your little dialemma here, Sora. I want to see what you're going to do."  
Sora didn't reply, storming out furiously.

Danny leaned on the counter, looking at the mostly empty tables. The café was quiet for this time of day. It was unusual to see it this quiet, even when there was something big going on. He didn't like it. Neither did Dog.  
"Keep things going for me?" he asked Dog. "There's something I want to find out."  
"Of course, Mas... Danny. I still haven't gotten used to that," he admitted ruefully. "I've had to do it for so long it's become a habit."  
"I'm sure no one minds much. I'll be back soon. In theory."  
"You expect trouble?"  
"Something's up. It's too quiet."  
"Have a look then, I'll handle things here."  
"Thanks Dog."  
"No trouble."  
The corridors outside were dead. There was something very wrong here. Sora hadn't come back yet, but he had no idea when he would be.  
He made his way out to the central area. It was exactly as it always was, bustling with activity. There was one activity that was distinctly different to normal, however. On the far side, people seemed to be scrambling clear out of someone's way. It was hard to tell who it was through the various trees and other natural life that was in the way, but whoever it was, was getting a wide berth.  
Worried it might be someone gone rogue again, he headed closer, taking a route around the edge that'd put him right in the other's path.  
Part way round, he realised who it was. It was Sora, who'd found himself a robe like his friend Roxas had been wearing, and he looked in a bad mood. He had to admit, the robe definitely added to the dramatic effect he was having. It made people clear out of his way before he even got close, and drag anyone else who was nearby clear whether they realised it or not. Sora looked uncharacteristically furious, you could practically feel an inexorable resolve behind it that no one would stand in the way of.  
Danny met him and kept pace.  
"I take it your meeting didn't go well."  
"To say the least."  
"Is that why you're terrorising everone in his part of the Arcology?"  
"No, that just happens to be a side effect. I want to you to have the details of everyone I own with me as soon as possible, I need to know how many I have, what they're capable of, what they specialise in, if at all, everything. And I need you to find me someone who knows as much as possible about the power, and the link between me and everyone I own. I also want someone down at the registry to make sure all markings for everyone of mine are fully up to date, and if anyone is on a job right now, find someone who isn't mine to handle it, go to the job board, order some people around if you have to, so long as they're all free."  
"You're planning something big then?"  
"Probably bigger than everything we have, but until all that's seen to, I won't know for sure. You'll be able to find me, I assume?"  
"Of course. I know how to find my First wherever he is, whether I'm summoned to him or not."  
"Good. I won't need to figure out where I'll be at the time for you then."  
They turned into the orange corridors of what was now Sora's part of the Arcology.  
"I don't suppose you'd care to tell me about it?"  
"Not yet. I'm still working on it, and I still need those details."  
"I'll see to it."  
"Get it done. Sooner the better."  
Danny stopped outside the door to his café, watching Sora continue on. Something had really annoyed him, and it looked like it was something else starting to change him. Hopefully he wouldn't be too different when he calmed down. This side of Sora was fairly intimidating to see.


	12. Chapter 12

Unaware of what was going on outside, King was working on another of his experiments. It was difficult to tell what the mass of wires and bits of machine and computer were meant to be, and it'd be easily forgiven to think that he was part of it, being half buried in one larger part of a machine, working on something that only he knew what.  
It wasn't unusual to find him like this, since Merle had at one point given him a large room to conduct his experiments in, rather than cluttering up his own room. Not that it cleared up his room noticably, he just ended up spending more time away from it.  
Busy working on whatever it was or not, he could tell there was someone picking their way through the room to find him, and extracted himself from his work to find Danny.  
"Something up?" he asked laconically.  
"Sora got the position. Something's got him in a foul mood though, and he's already planning something."  
"And you came to me because he needs something?"  
"You know more than anyone else I've even heard of about our power, and he told me to find an expert."  
"Not my best area, but I'll do what I can. Any idea what he's up to?"  
"Nothing yet. He just came down from the upper floors looking furious, gave me orders to have everyone drop everything, get him information on all of us, get everything up to date, and-"  
"Find an expert," King finished. "Doesn't sound like him though."  
"Believe me, I know. I didn't think he knew how to get into a rage at all, but something's done it, and I don't think it'd be a good idea to keep him waiting. Can this... uh..."  
"It can wait, don't worry. Just give me a moment to cap off the flow from... oh, forget it," he said, seeing Danny's blank expression. "I just have to fix one thing."  
"I'll never understand how you can get so technical, and still mean so little to me."  
"It's a gift," he shrugged, crawling back into the machine.

They found Sora in one of the many rooms he now owned, this one was more like a garden. The plants had been cultivated so as to make it seem like it was not a room at all, but that coupled with the ceiling made to resemble the sky on a warm summer day, it seemed like occupants were outside.  
The only evidence otherwise were the windows at one end of the room, and a desk nearby. Sora had taken a leaf from Sephiroth and forced the windows to show the same view. It left an odd effect, with the grassy floor seeming to just cut off to midair.  
Sora himself sat looking moodily down at the town, unaware of their arrival.  
"Sora? I've got everything you asked for."  
"Good."  
"I brought King along with me. He can probably solve whatever you need to know about power and such."  
"Perfect. The details on everyone?"  
Danny put a folder on the desk. "It's all in there. There's a fair bit in there though."  
"Doesn't matter, so long as it tells me what I need," he replied, turning and starting to examine the contents. His voice still carried the edge to it Danny had heard earlier, but he sounded and looked a lot calmer. "King, I know there's a link between me and everyone I own. How far does that go?"  
"In what way? What specifically are you trying to do with it?"  
"Heartless are difficult to take on, unless you have a Keyblade that belongs to you. As it is, I'm the only one here who qualifies. I want to share that trait between all of my people, so they can take on Heartless without needing the Keyblade itself."  
King thought for a few moments, his lips moving soundlessly and his eyes distant.  
"It's theoretically possible," he answered finally. "You'd essentially be giving each of us a piece of your power, which would in turn carry the trait you want. I don't know for certain if what you're trying to achieve is transferrable in this way, however."  
"Only one way to find out then."  
Danny's expression was troubled. "Sora, I understand if you don't want to talk about it, it's your right to do so, but whatever you're planning is sounding risky. It'd help a great deal if we, or at least I knew what you want to achieve."  
"Sephiroth plans to use his Heartless to consume the hearts of everyone in Twilight Town, starting at dawn in two days time. That gives us the rest of today and tomorrow to prepare."  
"For what?"  
"Taking them on, and stopping them. I'm not just going to let him do whatever he want. My friends are there, I'm in part responsible for getting them into this, and I'm going to get them out of it."  
"That's a highly dangerous path, Sora. It's close to openly rebelling agaist the Grandmaster."  
"He said he was using it as a test. I don't think he'll interfere, and I'm going to do this, whether I have to do it myself or with everyone behind me."  
"If you'l excuse me Sora, I'm going to read up some more on things, and see if I can give you a more definite answer," King told him.  
"Good idea. Go ahead with it."  
King left them, leaving Danny alone with Sora.  
"You really care about your friends there, don't you?"  
"This Arcology might have a claim on me, but I can't just drop my old life that easily. Sephiroth doesn't care what happens to them, or to his Heartless, he only cares about knowing what I'm going to do about it. It's a challenge, and not one I'm going to lose to him on."  
"A challenge you're willing to risk everything you've got on."  
Sora put the folder down and looked him in the eye. "If it were all of our people here, wouldn't you do anything to save them? I won't let him do it. I've fought Heartless time and time again, and with or without Sephiroth, I'll do it again, and not even he'll stop me from doing that, and if it comes down to it, I'll fight him too."  
"I think I understand where you're coming from, but..."  
"You still think it's too risky."  
"Can you blame me? You came back from that meeting looking like you were planning on beating everything you could out of anyone in your way, and now you're taking on the Grandmaster himself."  
"Not directly. Not yet, anyway."  
"Just be careful, Sora. Remember you're responsible for everyone under you."  
"I know. Give me a hand figuring out some kind of plan to take on the problem though?"  
"Of course. I think it's worth saying we don't have enough manpower to do much though."  
"Then send someone to get me Lyle and Seifer's firsts. Both should know of me through those two, I might be able to make a deal with them."  
"I'll see to it."

"Roxas, wake up, will you?"  
"Huh? Jamie? It's the middle of the night, what's so important it couldn't wait?"  
"Sora wants to talk to you."  
"Now?"  
"He said it was really important."  
Roxas sighed, leaning back again. "Tell him I'll be there in a moment."  
Jamie nodded, then left.  
Three days without a word from him, and now he appears in the middle of the night. Could he pick a worse time?  
His other looked different too, he noted, picking his way toward him and Jamie silently. They were sat on the edge of a fountain facing away from him. Sora had an Organization robe, something he'd not seen him in before, and as he approached, he noticed the eyes were different. Completely black.  
He knew what it meant, and he didn't like it.  
"What are you up to now?" he asked, coming up behind them and taking a seat.  
"The Heartless are going to attack you tomorrow morning, and do what they normally do. Sephiroth's controlling them, he's going to release them and let them do it, but leave you two out of it."  
"And you know this how?"  
"He told me in person."  
"And you believed him?"  
Sora glanced up sharply, irritation clearly showing. "Would you rather I did nothing?" he snapped. "Would you rather I just sat and decided he'd been lying and let it happen?"  
"Woah, easy there. What's gotten into you?"  
"Bad day," he replied shortly.  
"I didn't think you had any."  
"It happens. Danny and I are planning to make an attack on the outside with everyone I have. I don't know if they'll be able to do much yet, but either way, any help works out in our favour. I'm waiting on a few others to hear if they're going ti chip in too."  
"How long do we have?"  
"Until dawn."  
"Dawn tonight?"  
"No, the dawn after. That's when it would make most sense for him to let them loose. Few people awake, little resistance." He paused, then "It's the way I'd do it in his place."  
"At least we'll have warning it'll happen. There isn't much we can do though."  
"Guess again. Check the larger buildings to the north. I came in that way, they're blocking the exits on either side, but they're not on the roofs, and you can still get into some from this side. If you can get to the rooftops, you can break out of here."  
"Wouldn't be able to take many people out before they noticed."  
"If I can get the help I want, you won't need to get all the way out, I might be able to have people waiting there to port them all to safety. I can't guarantee it though. Have a backup plan in case."  
"What about other exits?"  
"Heartless on the other side. Better to block them off. It might not hold for long, but if it gives you the edge you need to get more people to safety..."  
"Point taken. What about you?"  
"I plan to lead the attack."  
"I meant what you plan to do right now."  
"Go back to my rooms and get some rest. I've got a lot to do before tomorrow's finished." "Good luck Roxas. I think you'll need it more than me."  
"Save some luck for yourself, Sora."  
"I'll remember. See you later."  
Roxas and Jamie watched him leave.  
"How good are you with that spear?"  
"Expert. It's a gift I have."  
"What do you mean?"  
"I guess I forgot to mention it. Sora helped me find out. As soon as I pick something up, I know how to use it."  
"Really? Useful to know. Ever done anything... wrong?"  
"Wrong?"  
"Like breaking and entering, thieving, that sort of thing."  
"What'd I need to do that for?"  
"I feel like exploring these rooftops and finding out how accurate Sora's information is, and it'd probably be better with company."  
"What if the Heartless notice?"  
"What if they do? I've got two keyblades, I can handle them. Any one of them goes missing, the others won't come looking to find out what happened unless another of them sees it happen."  
"I guess I don't have anything better to do."

"Morning Sora."  
"Danny. Anything interesting happen?"  
"Not yet. You missed breakfast, you know."  
"Yeah, I decided to sleep a bit later than normal. I'm going to need the extra rest for tonight."  
"You're still set on it."  
"Please don't start that again. At least not until I've had a coffee."  
"Good thing I just made you one then."  
"Thanks. Mia was right."  
"Oh?"  
"On the day she first brought me to breakfast here, she told me coffee practically was breakfast."  
"It gets to be a habit, doesn't it?"  
"You can say that again. Any word from Lyle or Seifer?"  
"None yet, but it's likely you won't anyway, you'll likely get a visit from their Firsts personally. Don't be surprised if they bring someone along with them. Firsts tend to do whatever they like, much like you are."  
"If they come to you before they get to me, have Merle excort them to the gardens will you?"  
"You know Merle won't like that."  
"She doesn't have to. If she wants to get out of her low rank, she can work for it the same as Dog did, and that starts with doing things when told."  
"True. I'll see to it. Go careful around Sand though – he's Merle's ex-husband, and Mia's father, and he's rumoured to be a bit of a renegade sometimes, going his own way regardless of the direction the Arcology wants."  
"Could be useful all the same. I'm going to head on over to the gardens and continue planning."  
"Would you mind if I opened the café again for the day? I know it counts under the 'drop everything' you wanted, but I'll still be ready to help later."  
"Go ahead. It makes sense. Don't let on about anything though."  
"Worried Sephiroth might try to spy on what you're doing?"  
"Wouldn't put it past him. It's the sort of thing I'd do."

Sora liked the gardens. It was almost enough to let him forget where he was, if it wasn't for the plans he was making there. They weren't very elaborate plans.  
Merle interrupted him.  
"Master Sora," she ducked her head respectfully. "You have guests. Firsts Sand and Swordsman ask to see you."  
"Show them in. Unless you've something else to do, remain at the door afterwards."  
"My duty there?"  
"Announce persons coming in the way you just did."  
"As you wish. I will fetch your guests now."  
As there always had been since what he'd done, there was a resentful edge in her tone. She still didn't like him for what he'd done.  
She didn't return with the two men who joined him next. One of them was tall and thin, and everything about him seemed to have the colour of sand, his skin, his hair, his clothes – all of them. The other looked considerably more normal, if you counted normal as having a giant sword on his back, and various bits of armour tacked on to his otherwise unremarkable clothing.  
The sandy one spoke first, "Sora. I've heard a lot about you. You know my ex-wife wants me to hurt you a lot for what you've done to her?"  
"You'd be Sand then."  
"Right. Of course, I have no intention of doing what she wants. She brought it on herself. Her breaking rules... well, it was what set us against each other. But that's behind us now, I hear you're planning something."  
"You're right. See that town there?"  
"Of course we do, we're not blind," the other, Swordsman presumably, said, it coming out short and harsh.  
"You really need to fix that attitude of yours," Sand told him. "You're going to get yourself in trouble with it one day."  
"Too much bother. What's special about that collection of bricks, Sora?"  
"There's people there who are going to get attacked by Heartless – the black creatures you can see there. Normally only I can take them on, but one of my people thinks I can share the trait needed with everyone coming with me, and let them all do it. There's more than I can handle."  
"What do Heartless do, exactly?" Sand asked curiously. "I remember them being mentioned them once, but never had it explained."  
"Consume hearts, in the process turning the victim either into another Heartless, or in rare cases a Nobody. They're more complicated, and not worth worrying about, there aren't any Nobodies there. At least, there aren't any against us."  
"Why do they do it?"  
"They try to find the collosal hearts of worlds, and consume them, which changes them, makes it a haven for them. I've restored worlds they've done that to before. It isn't easy."  
"And you want to bring the two of us in to help, or at least what we can spare? Ambitious plan. What if your person happens to be wrong?"  
"Then I get to take on an entire hoard of Heartless singled handed," Sora shrugged.  
"You don't seem phased by it."  
"It's a possibility I've come to accept may happen. There's no sense in worrying about it."  
"Good plan. I can't say I can do this for nothing, bug fortunately you have something I want. Give me Merle and my daughter, and those of my people I can spare with fight alongside you."  
"Why Miasma?"  
"She's not just skilled with poisions, but with all chemicals. It's an impressive gift, and one I want to help cultivate, and help her turn it into a power to be feared as much as you seem to be of late." He gave Sora a sly look. "Would you believe that when Lyle came to me asking me to meet you, one of my own first rankers, Rue, was so afraid of you he tried to stop me coming to see you until I told him not to, and even then, he came close to disobeying me on that."  
"Rue would be afraid of his own shadow if you let him," Swordsman growled. "It's no wonder he's never reached a promotion."  
"Don't be so sure old friend. He takes on things for me that no one else wants to."  
"Maybe. What can you offer me, Sora?"  
"What interests you?"  
"Make an offer."  
"I've been a First for barely a day, and have little experience with it, little knowledge of other Firsts, and little time or patience for games, so you'll excuse me for not having one to give you," he replied cooly.  
"He's got you there old friend," Sand chipped in, chuckling.  
Swordsman thought for a few moments. "These Heartless. Tough enemies if we're not you?"  
"Hard to make even a scratch on them," Sora answered  
"I'll personally lead my people then."  
"Oh? What brought around the change of heart?"  
He grinned a broad, evil looking grin, "I've never been bested on the field of battle. I don't intend to let them be the first."  
"You always did like a good fight." Sand observed. "I wonder if one of those battles knocked some sense out of your head."  
"No lack of sense here," he replied. "Just nothing to be afraid of, and a challenge in front of me. Can't go wrong."

"Pass up that ladder."  
"Hold on. Here it comes."  
"Got it."  
"Can you get up alright from there?"  
"No trouble. Just keep the area clear."  
"Give me a moment to get the ladder clear for you then."  
Roxas pulled the ladder clear and onto the rooftop. A few moments later, Jamie seemed to jump up in the air, and landed in a crouch nearby.  
"Easier than I thought," he commented, standing up.  
"How did you do it?"  
"The spear."  
"Heartless?"  
"Never noticed a thing."  
"Perfect."  
Moving silently, picking their way from roof to roof, they carried the ladder until they reached a large gap between one building, and the next.  
"Will it reach?" Jamie asked.  
"If not, I saw a few other places we can use it."  
They each took one side of the ladder, lowering it over the gap, holding it strongly to stop it from falling. It reached, but it was close.  
They shared a look, then Roxas tested his weight on it, crossing one way, then back again.  
"Not a problem. How many is that now?"  
"Ten routes to the roofs, and too many routes to the edge to count."  
"Now we just have to find a way to get people off the rooftops again at the edge of town."  
"I think I saw a few more ladders."  
"Too short, or not strong enough. We need something safe, something that'll stop them getting hurt, and isn't difficult or too time consuming to set up."  
They thought for a few minutes under the fading sunlight. Sunset would be along soon. That meant they didn't have long to finish up and start getting people out.  
"Matressess," Jamie said finally, breaking the long silence.  
"Beg pardon?"  
"Matressess, from beds. There must be loads of them around here. Alright, people won't like it any more than our stealing all these ladders, but if it helps get them clear from Heartless..."  
"You're a genius, Jamie. I knew it was a good idea to bring you along."  
"Where to start?"  
"The edge, of course. We'll at least be able to get a few set up quickly. Think you can handle a matress by yourself?"  
"Should be able to."  
"Good. That'll double our speed, unless we find larger ones."  
"We should built them in a kind of stair shape, and maybe block off the exit routes from the city."  
Roxas shook his head, "Sora will need a way in, remember."  
"Shouldn't he be able to figure out what we're doing, and direct his people the same way?"  
"He'll still need easy routes in."  
"So block some of them but not others."  
"That'll work."  
A faint noise made him turn sharply, looking around. Jamie heard it too.  
They approached the source silently and cautiously. It had come from a roof access on the neighbouring roof.  
There was another shuffling sound, and another, growing clearer as they approached.  
A Heartless stumbled out onto the rooftop. Roxas caught it from behind before it noticed them, destroying it, then listening intently to see if he could hear more.  
Jamie saw something else, something behind Roxas, eyes widening. He quickly gestured to get down, levelling the spear and willing it to send forth whatever it had at the larger  
Heartless behind Roxas. It was taller than the others, and was rather fat.  
The spear created another slice of air, but it bounced off, reflected back at him, forcing him to duck too. A second slice, this time of fire made it reel back, giving Roxas time to get clear, and take advantage of Jamie's continued assault distracting it.  
Keeping quiet and fighting this thing wasn't easy, but they managed it, ending it when Roxas finished the Heartless from behind.  
"Thanks for the warning."  
"Just looking out for you. I don't remember seeing any of those Heartless among the others."  
"Neither do I. We'd better hurry. It might mean they've discovered what we're doing, and we don't have all night."  
"Right. Let's get to work."


	13. Chapter 13

Sora knew there was someone behind him. He didn't bother to turn around to find out who.  
"You've got a problem here, you know," a familiar voice told him.  
"I know. I wasn't expecting you to show up. I thought the Council stayed upstairs."  
"Oh no. No, even we come down once in a while, though few people can ever tell."  
"Interesting. Which particular problem were you talking about?"  
"You've got your people, Swordsman and his people, and those that Sand can spare, all needing to get to Twilight Town. That's a lot of people to port, even if they all did it themselves. It'd be noticed, and would raise suspicions."  
"There isn't any alternative except to do it in small group starting now. There's not long left though. Sunset was just a few minutes ago."  
"Let me offer a less conspicuous solution."  
"And there I was trying not to count on your help," he smiled back. "What can you do?"  
"I can do two things. How about have the Arcology materialize on the same hill you were taken on, just outside of town, and I make it appear as if someone's been taken in while you and your small army go out?"  
"I didn't know that was possible, but it's a perfect solution."  
"There's one downside. You'll all have to get ready to go now, and make your way down to the ground floor. I can have it cleared so no one else finds out, but you're all going to have to be there."  
"Good thing I have a plan in place for quickly getting word out." He uncovered his markings, tapping the one of the Arcology. In moments, Zemyx, Dog, Danny and King were all present.  
"Something's happened, I assume?" Danny asked, noting the presence of what was, to him, a stranger.  
"We've got a new plan to get out," Sora told them. "Get word to all people taking part to go to the ground floor immediately. As soon as everyone's there, let me know."  
"What then?"  
"Then we all leave. It's the same way people are taken, but sort of in reverse. I want you all to make sure everyone is there, because once we're out, anyone else will have to port out, and there's to be no use of the Port Agency for this at all."  
"We'll see to it. See you there, Sora." Danny turned to the other three. "Dog, you go with King and round up Sand's people. Zemyx, you and I will go to Swordsman and do the same. Lets go now – we don't want to be late for the party now, do we?"  
"Some party," Zemyx snorted as they left.  
"That was neatly done," Sora's friend murmered after them. "You slipped it in without a problem. Are you sure you weren't counting on me to intervene?" she asked with an arch look.  
"Me? Would I ever try to plan for a Council member to do something like this? I mean, it would be really risky to get involved."  
"You're terrible," she laughed.  
"Oh, I don't know," he grinned impudently. "I thought I had it perfect."  
"I think I know where I'm placing my bets for the outcome of this."  
"Oh?"  
"It wouldn't be much of a bet if I told you the outcome, now, would it? Besides. I'm not meant to be here, remember."  
"You were here? I'm afraid I don't remember, I have the most terrible memory lately."  
"I was right, you're terrible. I'll handle what you need for you, but that's all I can do this time."  
"Sure thing. Leave the rest up to me. I'll have this solved in no time."

"Roxas!"  
"Quiet! You'll alert the Heartless!"  
"I don't think we have to worry for long," Jamie hissed back. "Quickly, have a look at this."  
"What, have a look at what?"  
"That," Jame replied, pointing.  
On the hill in the distance, there now stood a vast black tower that rose into the sky, a sky that surrounded and masked the top in a mass of roiling dark clouds with lightning in. Sparks from it occasionally shot down the outside of the tower, tracing random patterns. There were windows, but all were darkened.  
At it's base, several darker door-shaped holes had opened. They seemed to suck at the eye, but what caught the attention more than the tower or the holes were the people leaving from them. Leading them was Sora.  
"It looks like the cavalry has arrived," Roxas murmured, faintly amazed that Sora had actually managed to pull together a fair army.  
"We'd better hurry then. We don't have many ways down yet."  
"Never mind making more. Let's start moving people out already. The sooner we get them out, the more we save from that hoard. And I want a word with Sora as well."  
"Sora is a little busy right now," someone said, appearing nearby with a sucking sound. "I'm Dog."  
"You're not wearing the collar."  
"I don't need to any more. Sora helped get me the rank up I've been after. He's also asked I stop by to find out what you're up to, answer questions, that sort of thing. Speaking of questions, what's with the matressess?"  
"They're safe ways out for the people inside. We don't have many yet."  
"Why do you need them?"  
"There's a few buildings we can still get into safely. We get the people to the rooftops, where we've made a network of planks, ladders, and such so there's plenty of routes to the edge of the town."  
"I see. I think I can have some people lend a hand and build some more for you. You're going to need more than this."  
"You've come at a perfect time for it. It doesn't matter what kind of matress is used, just as long as it's a safe way down and out."  
"Understood. I'll get back to Sora in a moment and relay this, he's already setting up a camp for the refugees, but before I go back, any questions you've got?"  
"Just one for now, the rest can wait. Where did he get an army from?"  
"Oh, he made a few more friends. All but a few of his own people are present, some are on loan from another First, and a fair amount are being led personally by their own First who agreed to help out."  
"Useful. Now, how about that help?"  
"On my way to get it now," he replied, vanishing again.  
"We lucked out," Jamie said.  
"Or Sora has perfect timing." He glanced back at Sora's force. "The Arcology's gone."  
"I imagine they kept it around only for as long as they need. Why don't we go back to work?"  
"Leave it to Dog, we ought to start moving people out. Sora's friends will probably help direct people to the various exits."  
"What afterwards?"  
"Then we get to join in their fun with the Heartless," he smirked back.

"I don't think surrounding the town is going to make much difference here. Heartless aren't too bright, they're more likely to try to overwhelm us with numbers."  
"No seige then?"  
"Sorry Swordsman. I'd like to leave the town intact if I can help it."  
"What happened to a good old loot and pillage?"  
"We're not here to do that, remember?"  
"Oh well, guess if nothing else, we get a good fight."  
King entered the tent in the camp they were planning in.  
"I've done everything I can, Sora, but I still can't be certain if it's worked."  
"But if it has?"  
"Then we should all be able to hurt them as much as you can. I'm going to make a few more checks though." He left them again. King never did stick around for long.  
"Excellent. Everything's going according to plan."  
"There was a plan?" Seifer asked. He'd come along as the commander of Sand's forces, as Sand himself wasn't able to directly help. "I thought we were just making it up as we went along."  
"It's called active change," Sora told him airily. "There's a plan, it just gets changed actively as better ideas come along."  
"Isn't that the defenition of making it up as you go along?"  
"Of course not. When you make it up, there's no real plan."  
"They seem remarkably similar to me."  
"Coincidence," he shrugged. "How's the camp coming along?"  
"I've got my men building a palisade," Swordsman answered, then seeing Sora's blank look, continued, "A wall of sharpened logs in the ground. It isn't going to be perfect, but with a stupid enemy, it won't make much difference. And it won't leave much of a mark on the ground here once it's taken down again. Your Second insisted on taking over the field kitchen, so the townsfolk will have decent food, and there's tents and temporary structures to server as shelters being put up as we speak. I sent some scouts out with the other groups of forces to bring back any useful intel we can get."  
"That's more words than I've heard you use since I met you."  
"I know. I save them up for times like that."  
Dog ducked his head into the tent now.  
"We're getting the first refugees from the town coming in now, Sora. There's a Miss Kairi with them who says to tell you she got the message from Roxas, and that she's expecting a visit from Axel. Apparently you'd understand."  
"I do. Thanks Dog."  
"Sora, you never cease to amaze me," Seifer said as Dog left. "Not only did you get word out to her, but you managed to tell her who she'll see you as."  
"Told you I'd find a way. I'm going to go see her."

Sora found out that Kairi in one of the large pavillions since the shelters hadn't been finished yet. He made certain she'd see him as Axel, then made his way to the pavillion and in. Almost as soon as he got in, he was greeted with Kairi almost jumping on him, flinging her arms round him.  
"Sora!"  
"Hey, Kairi. Guess you know it's me this time."  
"Roxas got your message to me, he explained everything."  
"I hoped he would. Are you alright?"  
"I'm fine, never mind me, what about you?"  
"I'm perfectly alright, no need to worry about me. Donald and Goofy didn't come with you?"  
"They're helping guide everyone else out. I came on ahead. I knew you'd be here."  
"You're going to have to let me go though. I've got to go handle the Heartless again."  
"I know. Come back safely, Sora."  
"Of course I will. When have I ever not come back safely?"  
"Well, don't make this the first time you don't?"  
"I'll be careful, don't worry."  
"Uh... excuse me?" someone asked behind him. There was a first ranker there. His markings identified him as Rue, the one Sand had been talking about before.  
"What is it?"  
"Forgive me intruding master... but some of the Heartless have somehow managed to sneak behind the camp and our forces are under attack."  
"Can they hurt the Heartless?"  
"Yes master, they have managed to destroy several, but it seems to take much work. It was suggested you join them to assist."  
"You'd better go," Kairi told him.  
"I'll be back before you know it," he replied. On his way out, he paused, and glanced back at her, then at Rue. "Do you have any other things to be doing, Rue?"  
"No master, I'm here trying to make myself useful."  
"Would you stay with Kairi for me then, and make sure she's safe?"  
"You don't need to do that Sora, I'm sure I'll fine," she protested.  
"Set my mind at rest, so I don't have to worry?"  
"Oh... alright, then. I guess I can deal with it."  
Sora nodded and left.  
Rue turned to her. "How may I help you, mistress Kairi?"  
"Do you have to do that?"  
"Mistress?"  
"The master and mistress."  
"I am bound by the rules I know, mistress Kairi. You and he know each other well. He is of a position that holds great power among us, and it is rightful that he, and by extension you, are treated with proper respect."  
"Would you stop? Just use my name."  
"As you wish."  
"Do you suppose you can get me something to eat? I could do with a warm meal."  
"I will fetch one at once."

The defences at the rear of the camp were minimal, as they hadn't expected to be attacked from behind. In spite of that, their forces held off the Heartless, perhaps not easily, but enough to prevent their entry.  
Sora calmly walked through the fight, occasionally destroying a Heartless that strayed too close, meeting up with Swordsman, who held a giant sword in both hands, and was carving up huge swathes of them with relative ease while taunting them.  
"Fancy meeting you here, Sora," he commented, delivering another blow to several Heartless.  
"I thought I'd lend a hand," he replied, handling a few more of his own.  
"These Heartless aren't much of a challenge, you know."  
"There'll be stronger, don't wory. I saw a few of them. It's the big ones you've got to watch for, they can soak up more."  
"Oh good. A challenge."  
"If I could interrupt your fascinating discussion, I thought you should know we have two hours to dawn," Seifer told them, joining them.  
"Will we be able to get everyone out in time?"  
"Don't panic Sora. Dog and those with him have finished making exit routes, they're guiding, and in some cases porting the remaining residents to safety. They'll be fine, though apparently there's someone among them who resembles you, and is refusing to leave, and has a young boy with an odd spear with him."  
"Ah, that'll be Roxas and Jamie. They'll probably join in our fun come dawn."  
"You're taking this awfully calmly."  
"What's there to get excited about?"  
"Aren't you even worried?"  
"Not really."  
"What's up?" Swordsman cut in. "You're not getting cold feet, are you?"  
Seifer feigned shock, "Me? Never!"

The attack on the encampement was quickly broken, and defences in that area reinforced in case it was tried again. Word was sent to the other, lesser encampments of other forces around the town to do the same, as the last of the townsfolk took refuge in the main one.  
Their forces were then split, one part assigned to defence of the camps, one part as the reserves which were split around the camps, and the last part that would be personally led by Sora and Swordsman.  
They stood watching the town, awaiting dawn. Sora felt nerves coming on, but quickly banished them. They'd only unsettle him.  
Roxas stood to his right, having joined them by now. He looked calm, showing nothing else.  
To his left was the hulking figure of Swordsman, and beyond him, Jamie, holding his spear like a staff, butt of it on the ground.  
It was eerily quiet. Not a sign or sound of movement from the town, and only the faintest clinks and rustles from the men and women who'd taken up arms with them, adjusting arms or armour.  
The sky began to grow light, the starry black quilt of the night sky retreating to the stains of oranges and yellows, then finally giving way to sunrise.  
The shadowy black mass of Heartless in the town began to shift.  
Sora drew on his power, using it to amplify his voice so all would hear, and bellowed the command to charge into battle. Not a single person hesitated, bearing down on the town.  
They were met on all sides by Heartless before they reached the edge of the town, Heartless after Heartless, Heartless climbing over Heartless. It was like an unending sea of them. He could feel already that some of their allies had been lost to them. All that could be done was to put the Heartless created from them to rest, or if they became a Nobody, hope they still fought alongside Sora.  
Swordsman lost his cheer from earlier, having to work hard to stop from being overwhelmed by them, even with the massive reach of his giant sword, and the sheer power he could put behind it. Jamie backed him up, hurling bolts and arrows of air, fire and lightning sizzling through the air at them.  
Roxas and Sora pushed forward. Their keyblades were still the most effective weapon they had against the Heartless, and carved through them like knives in hot butter.  
The mass of Heartless forced them apart though. They were smart enough to avoid attacking them directly, Roxas because he had no heart to consume, and Sora because they knew he possessed strength enough to command them. This made it easier for them to fight, but harder for the others.  
"Sora!" Swordsman bellowed. "I could use some help over here!"  
Swordsman was surrounded, kept safe only by the reach of the sword, and vast wild swings keeping them at bay.  
Sora thrust a hand out, shouting, "Fire!" causing a fireball to annhiliate a small group of Heartless. He followed up with lightning, shot directly from the keyblade, and chained through as many Heartless as possible. It was like watching dominos fall.  
He cleared a path to Swordsman, brutually but efficiantely decimating any Heartless in his path until he stood back to back with the giant.  
"I owe you one," he called down.  
"Don't mention it – this is what allies do, right?"  
"And friends as well. How are you holding up?"  
"Don't worry about me, I've got the keyblade. Fall back with the others, at least then you'll have help to fend them off."  
"But Sora-!"  
"We need every hand we can get, and that means you too!"  
"Alright," he growled back sullenly. "But I'll have you know I could have lasted longer."  
"Of course. That's why I had to come help out. Keep safe."  
"You too."  
Sora then continued to push forward, glancing over at his Nobody.  
Roxas was not as calm as he'd appeared shortly before, spouting long strings of curses at them, emphasising them with blows from Oathkeeper and Oblivion. It was entirely possible the curses were having as much effect as the keyblades were.  
Someone else called, "Fire!" behind him, in a familiar voice.  
"We heard you could use a hand," Goofy told him, bashing a few nearby Heartless aside.  
"Glad to have you with us."  
"Hey, fighting Heartless is what we do best, right?" Donald reminded him.  
"Come on then guys, let's go to work."  
He felt far more confident with his old friends at his side than he did for all the others with them. Even if it was going to be a long and hard battle.

The fighting grew tougher as they entered the town through the remaining unblocked routes, fanning out along all alleyways and streets to flush them out. The tighter quarters made it more difficult to handle them, especially for those who weren't accustomed to it. Through it all though, Sora and Roxas strode through purposefully, not letting a single one get away, nor anything stop them. Roxas might have had two keyblades, but Sora had the Arcology's power, and was drawing on every bit of it to remove any Heartless stupid enough to get in their way. Which was a lot of them.  
Finally, the last of them were cornered in the central plaza, and there, stood in the center of them all, was Sephiroth himself.  
"Oh god," Seifer breathed. "You didn't tell us we were up against the Grandmaster."  
"We're not. He's just using the Heartless."  
"He looks ready to lash out at any one of us."  
"Anyone who wants to stay behind is welcome to. I'll take them on alone if I have to."  
Roxas' look spoke volumes. He wasn't going to leave Sora now, and neither Donald or Goofy looked likely to change their minds either.  
Sora didn't bother waiting for a reply, instead continuing onward.  
The Heartless now turned on him, no longer leaving him alone. They focused on him without regard to any other, but even with all of them, they didn't have the strength to stop Sora now. Not while he was blazing with power barely contained, focused and amplified through the Keyblade to be a devastating force against any Heartless. Sephiroth had claimed he'd need it. He hadn't been wrong. Their use of the Arcology's power had been one of the key factors that pushed the Heartless back this far. Sora wasn't about to let up now.  
The last of the Heartless hoard was destroy by his own keyblade, leaving Sephiroth stood waiting for him. He was still smirking.  
"What now, Sora?" he asked. "Will you now destroy those above you just as ruthlessly in order to gain further advancement, until you challenge me? Or will you challenge me now?"  
"What do you hope to get from this, Sephiroth?"  
"I already have what I wanted. Your power exceeds all others of your rank, and not a few of those above you. You're a considerable threat to me now. So I must know what your next course of action is."  
"Right now? I plan to make sure the town is safe, you're gone, and the residents can come back to their lives."  
"And more long term?"  
"I haven't decided yet. I've still got a lot to learn about being a First, I've got to account for everything that I've done here because of you and your Heartless, and I've still got Jamie to bring into the Arcology, among other things."  
"Guess, then."  
"In the end, you and I will probably end up in conflict, and I'll probably come after you. But right now, I really couldn't care less. I'm tired, and I want to get this sorted out before I just go to bed."  
"I need a definite answer."  
"Well I don't have one. Now get out."  
"Watch your tongue, boy. I still have power over you through my Arcology. One step out of line, even the slightest sign you're acting against me..."  
"Oh, spare me the threats and go away already, before I change my mind and come after you now."  
"Very well... but remember your place."  
Sephiroth ported himself away, leaving Sora fuming irritably.  
"You know, Sora, you're getting yourself in a lot of trouble lately," Roxas told him, coming up behind. "Would you mind a suggestion?"  
"What?" he snapped back, then calmer, "Sorry. I didn't mean to do that."  
"Don't worry about it. Anyway, it's simple. Bring me in as one of your own. At least then I'll be able to get in and out of the Arcology at will, and on hand if you need me."  
"I thought you didn't want any part of it."  
"I don't relish the idea of going through it any more than you did, but I think you'll benefit from having me around. Besides, at least if I'm one of yours, you can override anyone trying to exploit my presence there."  
"Fair point."


	14. Chapter 14

For the most part, clearing up after the battle was uneventful, as was their return to the Arcology. In order to keep suspicions inside to a minimum, they left in groups, the exception being Roxas, who vanished during one of the nights. Well, vanished as far as anyone outside knew, Sora knew he'd been taken.  
Sora was the last to leave. He hadn't wanted to leave his friends again, and they hadn't wanted to lose him again, but he'd pointed out he was a First now, he had responsibilities to see to. He did promise them he'd visit when he got the chance, then left them again, heading to the gardens that had become his office. He didn't need an office, but with the vast array of rooms he now had, he found setting them aside for specific tasks had helped put some of them to good use, where previously they'd been neglected. Merle hadn't used many of them. It also gave his people something to do, keeping them clean and ready in case he decided to give one of them a use.  
He'd taken one look at the suite of rooms that he was meant to use in place of his old one, and rejected them out of hand, instead preferring to keep his old one.  
Danny met him in the gardens as he appeared there.  
"I thought I'd find you here."  
"I just got back."  
"I know. You remember that reputation you were getting here?"  
"Which one? The one that's making me out as someone to be afraid of?"  
"That's the one. We kept what we were just doing a secret, right?"  
"Yeah. Well, as much as possible."  
"So naturally in a pretty much closed society like ours, everyone knows already. That reputation of yours has grown from it."  
"Just what I need," he sighed.  
"It's not too bad, actually. Some of the other Firsts will respect you more for it, and be more inclined to listen to you, perhaps even take orders from you, even though you're on equal terms with them."  
"Equal except power. Sephiroth told me mine outstrips all the other Firsts."  
"Power doesn't equal authority though, it's just how much respect or fear you gain based on what's known of it. As long as you don't abuse your position, you'll do just fine, maybe people will think of you as being ruthless, or harsh, but let them think that."  
"You're suggesting I just let them? That's not who I am, Danny."  
"I know that, but tell me it wouldn't be useful to just go up to anyone, give them an order, and have it carried out without question?"  
"Having it questioned could be useful sometimes."  
"So have them give their opinion on it before doing it. You're the one in power, Sora. If they're afraid of you, it only adds to it."  
"True enough."  
He leaned back against a tree, staring out of the windows. They were still focused on Twilight Town and the sun setting over it.  
"There's something else I think you should be aware of," Danny told him.  
"Go on."  
"I gave your Nobody a fifth rank like you asked. He asked to be allowed to go on an investigation about the various rumours and such about you."  
"I'm assuming you let him."  
"Yes, why?"  
"That was going to by my question actually."  
"It made sense. It'd give him time to have his own power manifest, learn the Arcology, and give him a useful task."  
"Interesting. Alright, so what did he find out?"  
"So far, he's sent word that he uncovered two plots to kill you."  
"You're not serious?"  
"Unfortunately so. I've sent word to the Overseer on this floor with all Roxas found out so far, but it's not much, and all I got back was an order to find out more."  
"Who'd want to do this..." Sora muttered thoughtfully.  
"It's anybody's guess who it is. But watch your back."  
"At least I'm doing something right."  
"What makes you say that?"  
"Wasn't it you who told me that if there's someone who doesn't like what you're doing, you must be doing it right?"  
"Well, yes, but I hadn't exactly included people trying to kill you for it."  
"Shows I must be doing a perfect job then, doesn't it? Don't worry, I'll keep an eye out."  
"Not literally, I hope."  
"Of course not. Do me a favour on your way out?"  
"What's that?"  
"Tell whoever's on watch at the door not to let anyone in unless I say so, no matter who it is. Just to be safe."

Roxas was back in the Arcology now, on one of the rarely visited floors. Seifer had suggested there was someone worth meeting up here.  
This particular floor had no apparent owner, and if it did have one, they had some strange ideas. It resembled a ruined urban setting, complete with a few burning buildings and even the odd brawl in the streets. He kept clear of them mostly, until he was left with no choice in order to reach the only unruined building he'd seen here.  
He ignored the brawl unless he had to, letting it surge around him, ducking when someone was thrown toward him, kicking someone else out of his way, and breaking a few faces along the way where people tried to attack him. After a bit of this, they began to catch on, allowing him to make it to the building unscathed.  
It had a neon sign flickering above the door that just read 'Snorts'. This was the place.  
The brawl wasn't limited to the outside, it seemed, but he wasn't bothered. He made his way to a table in the far corner. Two others were waiting.  
"There are other tables," one told him. The shadows here kept him from telling much about either.  
"I like this one." he told them. "Seifer sent me."  
"Anyone could say that."  
"Not anyone could say it and have two sets of markings," he replied, surreptitiously showing them.  
"He's the one," the first told the other.  
"Good," the other grated. "What do you know?"  
"Enough. If you want something specific, you'll have to ask for it, and be ready to supply something in return. Nothing for nothing."  
"Nothing for nothing," the other repeated. "As you wish. A deal then. You tell me about your owner, and I'll tell you what we plan to do."  
"Wait," the first interrupted. "What are you doing acting against him? I hear you're related."  
Roxas shrugged. "That's no business of yours. I do what I want. What do you want to know about him?"  
"Tell me how he'd react to an armed assault on him."  
"You'd be blown away in instants. If he knew what you were doing, you'd stand no chance. Have you even heard the rumours about how powerful he's grown? They say he isn't even hesitating to kill people now." Roxas knew this wasn't true, but he couldn't show that. He was counting on their trusting what he told them to buy Sora time.  
"I hadn't heard that."  
"Yeah, well, I've got an ear out for anything to do with him. I hear a lot more than you think."  
"So we'd have to get him more stealthily."  
"Not easy. You'd stil encounter his people along the way. He's expecting people to come after him. I'd almost say he's paranoid over it."  
"It has a better chance than an open attack on him, unless you've a better idea."  
He pretended to consider it, then shook his head.  
"I didn't think so. So here's the plan. You're one of his, you'll wait for him to be vulnerable. Get his people clear so we've got a way in, and then bring us in. We'll grab him, bag him and bring him here."  
"Then what?"  
"Then you'll tell your Second that you'll have to take over in his absence, giving us another First."  
"What about Sora?"  
"Oh, he'll come around to us once we're done with him," the first of the two said in an evil tone, holding up a clear jar with a green liquid in. "He'll come around quickly, and if he doesn't... well, I'm told the withdrawl symptons are excrutiatinly painful."  
"A drug, and an interesting sounding one at that..." Roxas remarked. "I could make some good use of that. Get me some of it, and I'll see what I can do to help you."  
"That wasn't part of the original agreement," the other grated at him.  
"The original agreement said nothing about my getting involved. Only hearing you out. You want my help, you pay my price."  
"How can we trust you?"  
"You can't. But you've no choice. I'm the only one of his people willing to even see you, let alone deal with you. Since you're not interested though, I'll be on my way."  
"Wait! I believe... we can come to some arrangement."  
"I knew you'd see it my way."  
"How much do you want?"  
"One jar will do. I have... resources that can get me more from it."  
"More?"  
"You don't need to know the details. One jar for my services. Is that really such a bad price?"  
"Hand it over, Gretch," he grated. The one holding the jar reluctantly surrendered it. Roxas stowed it inside his robe.  
"Good doing business with you. You'll have what you need in two days. Use the northernmost entrance into his part of floor 22. You won't see me along the way unless something goes wrong."  
"You're confident of yourself. Almost too confident."  
"You're getting something you want, I'm getting something I want. Nothing more to it."  
"What exactly are you getting?"  
"You don't need to know the details. Unless you've something else to discuss, I'll be leaving now."  
They said nothing more, so he left without another word, making his way through the brawl easily. Miasma would be able to identify the chemical and create an antidote for it if it was needed. He and Sora could then work together to thwart the plan, now he knew all of it. And to think it'd been so simple.

Miasma had to admit, Sand knew exactly how to help her. She had her own laboratry to work on chemicals now.  
One of Sora's newer members had brought her an interesting dark green chemical. She didn't recognise him, but she didn't need to, his markings identified him.  
She bustled from test to test, examining the results of each and making notes, then consulting other notes.  
"Kalthasalt," she announced finally.  
Roxas jerked up from the nap he'd been taking. "Sorry? What?"  
"That's what it is, Kalthasalt. It's a very rare drug. I've only ever seen it once, and that was when I created it by accident."  
"What does it do?"  
"It renders the user susceptible to suggestion, and makes them very pliable.. In plain terms, they'll be inclined to believe just about anything they tell him, and do whatever they want."  
"I don't suppose you know about withdrawl symptons?"  
"From a few doses, not many. From prolonged usage though, they'll begin to experience severe stomach ache, followed by uncontrolled and painful muscle spams, some brain damage, and then finally death by heart attack."  
"Unpleasent. How long does that take?"  
"About four days, and that's just what's known about it."  
"There's more?"  
"Possibly. I don't know. It's not like I can just administer it to someone and find out what happens."  
"Alright, so can you make an antidote?"  
"It's theoretically possible, but it could take time."  
"I need it in less than two days."  
"I don't know if I can do that."  
"If not, then you probably have about three days to make a cure for it."  
"You think someone's planning to use this?"  
"I can't really say in case word gets out."  
"I wish you'd tell me more."  
"Got to be careful. You can have my word that I'll try to stop it from being used, but an antidote or cure would be useful in case. I can't guarantee I'll be able to stop it's use."  
"It'll have to do, I suppose." She thought for a few moments, then to the air beside her, "Father, I need to speak with you a moment."  
"Is something up?" Sand asked, appearing nearby.  
"Not exactly. I've got something I'm working on for Roxas here, but it's got a sort of short deadline. Could you get me some help here?"  
"How many people do you need?"  
"At least four, and they need to be really good with chemicals like me."  
"Just what are you working on?"  
She glanced over at Roxas. Sand followed her gaze.  
"I've had word that someone's plotting something against Sora, and I'm trying to stop it. I got hold of a drug they plan to use, and asked Miasma to identify it, then make an antidote or cure, in case it gets used."  
"I see. That's very ambiguous information."  
"I know, but I can't risk tipping them off. I made a deal to help them in order to get the drug, a deal I don't plan on keeping, but I can't let them know that."  
"Playing both sides of it. Alright, you two have my support. I'll get you whatever you need Mia, but you Roxas, you had better watch yourself."  
"I know how to take care of myself, don't worry. I ought to go though, I've been here too long."  
Sand nodded, watching him leave.  
"Which drug, dear?" he asked Mia.  
"Kalthasalt."  
"Ah. That one. I think I know who he got it from then."  
"Who?"  
"Best if you don't know, little one. I'll find you the best help I can for this."  
"I think I'm going to need it."  
"We can hope he can prevent needing them before time."

Danny's café was open as usual, as if nothing had happened. Even the regulars were there the same.  
Danny himself was busy, which was unlike him. He had been since Sora had taken his new place, so Dog was left to run things by himself. He didn't mind this, he'd done it before.  
What wasn't normal was Danny's unusual request to keep a certain box of ice cream to hand. No one had asked for it, and they'd never had any in before. It was in an odd flavour, too.  
The next more unusual sight for the day came when Roxas came in, and instead of waiting at the counter like everyone else, came right behind and took Dog aside.  
"Dog, can you get something to Sora without anyone noticing?" he asked in a low voice.  
"Not easily, but I should be able to."  
"Good." He took out an envelope, and handed it to him. "Don't open it, don't let anyone open it but Sora. It needs to get to him as soon as possible. Make sure no one at all knows it even exists but him. I can't stay for long. Can you do this?"  
"I'll get it done. Why can't you stay?"  
"I've got a lot to see to," he replied, turning to leave. He took an ice cream from the box Danny had said to keep near, winked at him, then left. It made sense why it was there now.  
Dog called Mia's younger brother over, picking up some paperwork from a counter, and hiding the envelope among them.  
"Whatcha need done now?"  
"Take these to Sora for me please. Ask him to pay attention to the third page."  
"What's so special about that?"  
"Don't worry about it. I think it's something you and I aren't meant to know about."  
"What's in it for me?"  
"I won't tell Danny about the dishes you broke earlier."  
"Oh, alright then."

"Zemyx is here to see you, sir," a young girl told him. She was one of his many second rankers, and he couldn't always remember who was who.  
"Did he say what he wanted?"  
"He said he had documents from Dog to give you."  
"Send him on in then."  
Paperwork. There seemed to be too much of it, and he didn't even have to put up with much.  
"Sora," Zemyx called, coming over. "Here. Dog said to pay attention to page three. Didn't say why."  
"Thanks. I'll have a look. Don't suppose you've heard anything from Roxas?"  
"He came in a few moments before Dog got me to bring this to you."  
"Alright. Go on back and help out then."  
Once he'd gone, he turned to the third page immediately, and found the envelope he knew would be there.  
Roxas had left him a letter explaining everything he'd found out so far, and detailing a plan. He wanted Sora to play along with it, deliberately leaving the route from the north of the area he owned directly to his room completely unguarded, and feign sleep. Roxas planned to keep nearby with a few others that he didn't name, and aimed to catch them in the act. He didn't say what 'the act' was.  
This was both welcome and unwelcome news. He didn't like the idea of being live bait, even if they were likely to catch and stop those involved.  
It was going to bother him for the next two days.

The two day wait crawled past. Sora, driven to distraction worrying about what was going to happen, had ensured there was a second exit to his room, not because he was paranoid, but because it would give an extra chance to keeping him in the clear if things didn't go according to Roxas' plan.  
That evening, he lay trying to look convincingly asleep. He knew he wasn't going to.  
"Don't get surprised," Roxas' voice told him quietly. "It's only me."  
"Where have you been?"  
"On the inside of this particular plot against you. Or as much inside as they let me. Go back to pretending to be sleeping, Sora. There's two others here with me. We'll stop them."  
"From doing what?" he asked, but got no response. A glance around showed no one there at all.  
Uneasily, he settled back down again.  
Faint voices started to reach him. Being careful not to catch anyone's attention with it, he tuned his power to listening in on them.  
"... don't see anyone yet."  
"Of course not, that guy said he'd keep everyone out our way."  
"And you trust him?"  
"No, but as he put it himself, we don't have any choice. He's working with us, that's all we need."  
"But-"  
"No buts. He's done nothing against us."  
"That we know of."  
"He's held up his end of every agreement with us so far."  
"Emphasis on 'so far'."  
"Stop being a pessamist. It was either this or attack him."  
"I don't like either."  
"Oh, shut up. We're almost there. The plan is to go in, grab him before he can react, knock him out, then get him out. Keep it quiet now. I don't know how soundly he sleeps. We don't want to wake him and have him realise what we're up to."  
Sora grinned to himself in the darkness. He already knew what they were up to.  
As silently as he could, he went to work on the hinges of his door, ensuring they'd creak. If nothing else, it'd give them a scare.  
Just as he finished, the door opened, creaking loudly, and masking the sound of Roxas stifling his laughter at it.  
His eyes now adjusted to the lack of light, he could see that the two figures now in the door way had drawn back sharply, but once the creaking stopped, and they saw no apparent reaction, they continued silently in, approaching him. One took a large sack off it's back, the other took out what looked like a cloth, taking one end in each hand. He guessed it was probably to stop him making any noise.  
When the two were directly beside him, and about to put the cloth over him, there was a faint rustle, and Oblivion appeared at the nearest's neck.  
Sora willed the lights to come on, revealing Roxas wielding Oblivion, and someone he didn't recognise wrestling with the other to hold him back. A third was at the door.  
"All clear, Rox," he whispered in.  
"Thanks. Sora?"  
"I'm fine, thanks to your warning."  
"Don't mention it. Now, if our friend here would care to step away before I have to lop his head off?"  
He did so, turning to face Roxas.  
"You! You betrayed us!"  
"So I did," he replied calmly. "Hand over the cloth. I happen to know it's impregnated with the same poison you kindly gave me a sample of."  
"And show me your markings," Sora added, getting up.  
"They don't have any," Roxas told him. "They're rogues. There's a few of them hiding out in the upper floors.  
"Inconvenient. What were you planning on doing?"  
"What does it look like? Kidnap you. We had a deal with him-" he jerked his head at Roxas, "- to make him replace you once you were out of the picture."  
"Why?"  
"Why would I tell you that?"  
"You're talking to the most feared First there is at the moment. Isn't that reason enough? Just think about all the things I might do to you."  
The one wrestling with Roxas' unidentified friend stopped resisting long enough to call out, "It was the Grandmaster! He put us up to it!"  
"You're an idiot, do you know that?" the first of his would-be captors snapped at him.  
He ignored his companion's insult, and continued, "If you'll let me go free, I'll tell the rest."  
"You'll go free afterwards – if your information's good," Sora replied.  
"He said you were too powerful, and wanted you under his control. He knew you wouldn't do it willingly."  
"So he aquired the drug for you," Roxas said.  
"He said it was the only way he could be sure. But there's more – he said he'd know if we failed, and that there'd be more coming afterwards.  
Roxas nodded. "I already know about that. I infiltrated a bit higher than you two knew, and fed them false information. They're currently dealing with the rest of my friends."  
"Where did you find your friends, Roxas?" Sora interuppted.  
"Oh, they're rogues too. I hired them to lend a hand."  
"What did you promise them?"  
"Can we not go into that right now? The details aren't exactly important for the moment."  
"We've got trouble incoming Rox," his friend at the door told them. "There's more of them than we can handle. We need to get those two out, and get Sora somewhere safe."  
"I'll take care of Sora myself. You boys handle our little friends here. You know where to go?"  
"Ten four boss, we haven't forgotten."  
"Snap to it then, I'll meet up with you when I get the chance. Sora, come on with me, I can get you out of this safely."  
"Lead the way," he replied.  
They said almost nothing as Roxas led him quickly through the labyrinth of corridors and hallways. He clearly knew where he was going, and was also clearly expecting trouble, given that he kept his keyblades at the ready.  
Eventually, they ended up in a large circular hall with giant pillars around a gaping hole. It led both up and down. He couldn't see the top, or bottom.  
"This is where we wait," Roxas announced.  
"For what?"  
"Who, not what, and it's Seifer we're waiting for."  
"Interesting. While we're waiting, why don't you report in on what I've missed?"  
"There's four separate plots on your life, only one of them fatal, all of them were started by the same person, who we now know is Sephiroth himself. At the moment, Danny and our people, roused and warned by me on the way in, is commanding our people to protect the parts of the Arcology you own from an attack that was planned to land if the first two failed – which they did. My people are working with them, and providing as many distractions as possible to draw attention away from here. Seifer and I planned to meet here whether we got you safely out of trouble or not."  
"Neat."  
"It took him and me a lot of planning to work out, and we're both missing a bit of sleep," he yawned back.  
"Just what did you give them, Roxas?"  
"A bit of this, a bit of that," he replied evasivly. "I'd really rather not talk about it right now."  
"You're going to have to sometime."  
"Not just yet though," Seifer told him, entering through one of the arches leading into the room. He was limping slightly.  
"Trouble?" Roxas asked.  
"I got caught unexpectely. Your friends got me out of it. Nice to see you got Sora," he noted.  
"It was easy. There were only two of them."  
"That's about the only good news I've heard so far. I talked with Sand, he got Swordsman with us again, and they're helping, but Nighthawk, Darik and Sebastion have decided to go against us, throwing the odds in Sephiroth's favour again. The remaining Firsts have so far elected to remain neutral, aren't aware of this yet, or are too distant."  
"How many of them might be persuaded?"  
"It's hard to say. Sand's running around pulling in every favour he's got. The last I heard he was on the line to Phoenix, and he had a long list of people to call on."  
"Would it help if I went to any of them?" Sora asked.  
Seifer shook his head though, "Too dangerous. We don't know if any of them are in on this, and just waiting for the right moment to strike. You're better safe with Roxas."  
"This place isn't going to stay safe for long, Seifer," Roxas told him gravely.  
"I know. I won't be able to go with you, not with the injuries I picked up along the way. I'll support people here as much as I can, but you two have to go now."  
"Which way?"  
"Plan 3."  
"Gotcha."  
"What's plan 3?" Sora asked as the two of them left.  
"We came up with seven different routes to get you to safety. This is one of them."  
"Run, Roxas!" Seifer's call shouted after them, and sounds of fighting not long after.  
He led Sora on through yet more corridors, along some there were people going about normal business who stepped hurriedly aside at these two running through.  
On another, there was fighting blocking their path. Roxas cut aside any who got in their way, and a few of those figthing helped out, cutting off any pursuit from behind, and helping carve a path through.  
"It looks almost like the entire Arcology's up in arms!" Sora remarked when they were clear.  
"If Sephiroth doesn't get his hands on you, it will be," Roxas replied. "Firsts are taking sides in this; some are supporting you, others are against you. The rest we don't know about, and quite frankly, I'm not going to stop to ask right now. Keeping you safe is important, even I can't tell you what Sephiroth will do to you."  
"I don't think I want to find out."  
Several floors up and many corridors later, they had to pause for a break.  
"How much further?"  
"Not far, I think. If I remember it right, it's just at the end of this corridor. There's a room spanning most of this and the surrounding floors."  
"That's useful?"  
"I'm not finished yet," he breathed, still winded. "There's some boards there – like snowboards, but for the air. They're dead easy to get the hang of. It shouldn't be hard to keep from getting caught in there."  
"How exactly-" his query was cut off, as people came out from various doors nearby, all brandishing weapons.  
"That's him!" one of them pointed at him.  
Roxas seemed to find new reserves of energy, and stood between him and them. "Go, Sora – I'll hold them off."  
He didn't hesitate, instead ignoring the sounds of fighting breaking out, and pushing onwards.  
Roxas hadn't been wrong. The room looked like a daytime sky, complete with clouds, but missing a ground. Hovering boards were tied to posts nearby.  
He stepped on one, strapped himself to it, and loosed it from the peg. The board dropped slightly, then continued to hover.  
Leaning forward made it speed up, while back slowed down. He had only to lean over to one side or the other to turn. He found changing height wasn't hard either, trying to put more weight on front or back foot decided the rate of ascent or descent.  
There didn't seem to be any kind of power source, until it dawned on him, he was probably the power source for it. It explained why it was so responsive the way he'd expected it to.  
This sky room seemed deserted except for him, so he took the change to enjoy flying around on it. It was massive, and cylindrical, the large center pillar being the only way in and out on any of the floors it connected to. The only exception was a bar spanning three floors that cut directly to the edge. It was on the same floor he'd been on until recently.  
His time alone was cut short when he spotted several more people taking to boards. He took cover in the edge of a cloud, hoping it'd mask him enough while still letting him observe.  
"You can't hide," a voice behind him said. He turned to see someone grinning at him, toying with a knife in one hand.  
Without missing a beat, he let to board drop in hight rapidly, turning it into a steep dive. Several others around noticed him and headed directly after him, others after them in hopes of finding him.  
The floor was clearly visible, he noted on the way down. The clouds drawn on it were flat. He could just about make out where it was.  
He kept in his dive until he judged it wasn't safe any longer, pulling up at the last moment. A series of thuds and crashes behind him told him several of them hadn't noticed, and had fallen for his trick.  
Several more still pursued, however, and yet more still had taken to the air. Most were searching, but some saw the pursuit and joined in, trying to cut him off. He skimmed close to one wall, causing several more people to crash into it, then again near the ceiling. No one hit it this time, having caught onto his tricks.  
Instead, he glanced back, focused some of his power, and started throwing lightning bolts at them, forcing them to scatter. They weren't lethal by any stretch, but it'd shock them enough to knock them out of the air for a few moments.  
Next he created several fake clouds of his own, making them move around as if in powerful air currents, and also making a few of the already existing ones move similarly.  
Then he took cover in one of them. Of course, this wouldn't work for long, they'd seen him go in, so instead he drew all the clouds he was controlling nearby, then darted into a different one, letting them separate again.  
With a sudden idea, he also masked the bar in static clouds, and created several more bars of clouds in thin air. With any luck, a few of them would mistake which one was really hiding the real one. Some startled cries gave proof it was working.  
Then someone shot through the cloud he was in, and moments later, he heard, "That one! He's in that one!"  
He pulled in several more nearby clouds, then let them go again. They all started searching the ones he'd pulled in, ignoring the one he'd stayed in.  
Taking advantage of this diversion, he flew his cloud away from the rest of them, near to the top, then made it continue to drift slowly along with the original clouds. No one paid his cloud any attention any more. It was perfect, and gave him a panoramic view of the area. There were a lot of them by now, flitting around constantly, in and out of clouds. Eventually they began to organize. Several of them flew above all of Sora's rapidly moving clouds, then on a signal from another of them, dived through each at the same time.  
They realised he'd duped them again when no one found him, and started searching the rest of the clouds too.  
He quickly adjusted the look of his cloud, taking it as close to the ceiling as he could. Hopefully it'd look to them like it was one of the ones drawn onto the ceiling. He then dispelled all the clouds he'd created except for this one, and then created several more new ones for them to search.  
His ruse didn't work for long, and he was soon discovered and forced to leave the cloud again. This time he didn't last long. Someone cut right in front and caught him round the head just right.  
Unconsciousness was immediate.  
Everyone watching saw him become limp in the air, and the board falter. All the illusions he'd created vanished with his consciousness.  
Then he fell.

* * *

Author's Note: I hadn't planned on putting another note in - not until the end. But I'm putting one in anyway.

Apologies fo the unusually long chapter, but there was no way I was passing up leaving you that cliffhanger. What's going to happen to him? Wait and see. Reviews, as always, are welcome. Flames can go someplace else though.


	15. Chapter 15

Sora woke up.  
It wasn't an instant waking up, it was a slow one. He slowly became more aware of things.  
Like something around his neck. A rope? No, it was more like... a collar.  
He didn't seem to be restrained at all, instead, he was laying on something hard and cold. A floor, maybe. Wood or stone. It was hard to tell without moving, and he didn't want to show he was awake just yet.  
There was a scritching sound, like someone writing on paper. It was above and behind him. He listened more carefully, but couldn't tell any more, and decided to wait for now, listen and see – or hear – what happened.  
There was the sound of a door opening, and footsteps approaching.  
"Ah, Roxas," the writer said. It was a familiar voice, he just couldn't quite place it yet.  
"You sent for me?"  
"Yes. You're aware that Sora is missing?"  
"Of course. The rumours suggest you're responsible."  
"Yes, well, rumours can't always be believed, can they?" It was Sephiroth, Sora decided. There was little doubt in his mind, but he remained still, in case something was going on. Roxas apparently couldn't see him, which suggested as he was clearly there, Sephiroth was up to something.  
"So what involvement did you have then?"  
"Roxas, please," he protested. "While I admit to considering him a threat, I wouldn't want anything to happen to him. I'd rather he came around to my way of thinking through more peaceful means than last night's outbreak."  
"Oh, really?" he replied skeptically.  
"Of course... threat or not, he's a valuable person to have working for me. Now, have you considered my offer?"  
"It's only temporary, right?"  
"Until Sora is found, yes."  
"And when that happens?"  
"He'll take the position back, of course."  
"Alright... but I don't like this."  
"I've got my own people out looking for him, Roxas. If he's in my Arcology, you can guarantee he'll be found."  
Roxas said nothing, and a few moments later, the door creaked again, Sora assumed it was his leaving.  
The scritching of Sephiroth writing resumed.  
Tentatively, Sora opened one eye, then the other, and looked around.  
He was definitely on the floor, in the same room they'd met in shortly before the attack on Twilight Town. Sephiroth was seated at the desk, apparently engrossed in whatever he was writing. Sora couldn't see his face.  
Hoping he was distracted enough not to notice, Sora then reached one hand up to his neck and felt, yes, a collar.  
"You won't find a rank marking on your wrist or in your eyes either," Sephiroth told him, still writing. "I think that should confirm what you've no doubt already realised."  
Sora realised alright. He'd gone from being a First, to a first rank. He remembered Dog when he'd first got here, and Dog's comment. Dog had agreed he wouldn't be good at this. Well now he'd get to find out.  
"You'll also find your belonging are missing, returned to your room, and that you're instead wearing a shirt and shorts of my own choosing. You're forbidden to wear anything I haven't told you to. Oh, and also forbidden to summon your keyblade. Unless I say otherwise, of course."  
He glanced down, noting he was right. A simple white shirt and matching shorts. There were no pockets on either.  
As Sephiroth had obviously noticed he was awake, and had said nothing more to him, he sat up, rubbing at shoulders that now ached slightly, then turning to face him.  
Sephiroth continued to write.  
"You told Roxas-"  
"What I told Roxas is of no concern to you. In time, he'll come to accept that he has just taken your position, and will hold it until he's promoted and another takes his place. Unlike you, he only aided in the rebellion last night. You were the cause for it. Which is why neither her or Seifer have received punishments. However, both of them, and each of the Firsts who sided with your cause will shortly receive reprimands, the last of which I'm writing now, but the only one receiving a punishment for it-"  
"Is me."  
"Don't interrupt me, and don't forget to show proper respect. You won't be warned again."  
He wanted to object, but knew he couldn't. He wasn't allowed, and felt keenly the restrictions he already had on him from his rank, let alone anything else Sephiroth would forbid him from.  
"What actually happened last night..." he paused, then forced himself to say it, "... master?"  
"Better. What happened is that your Nobody stole a good amount of the rogues I permit to stay in the Arcology from me, keeping them even now I might add, and used them to foil all four attempts I'd set in motion that would have made things far easier on you. This in turn caused fighting in one part of the Arcology. Once Danny got involved, your friends Sand and Swordsman also weighed in. After that, it shot out of control as various Firsts started taking sides between you, and the forces who didn't appear to have any leader. Which of course they did, in me. About two hours after you were finally caught, the fighting was finally subdued by my forces apparent loss. The Firsts with them rapidly surrendered after that. Then I put word out that you were missing, not taken, and now while people are out searching for you, they will not find you. Not even if you go out among them. You will simply be another first rank to even the closest of your friends."  
He couldn't bring himself to say anything. He could hardly believe it. He'd caused civil unrest throughout the Arcology, only to get caught. The very thing it was meant to prevent.  
Sephiroth finished writing, folding the paper into an envelope, sealing it, then writing on the envelope breifly. It was then placed on top of a stack of similar envelopes.  
"Each of these is labelled with the name of the person it is to be delivered to," he said.  
"You want me to deliver them for you, master?" It was still hard for him to add the 'master'. He inwardly cringed back from having to say it every time.  
"See to it. Now."  
Left with no choice after that, he scooped them up and left. There was no sense in wasting any time.  
When he got to the door, Sephiroth called, "Oh, by the way. Don't get any ideas about trying to tell anyone. You can only talk about this with people who really know what's happened to you."

Sora was beginning to understand why Dog had disliked being at the bottom.  
No one paid any attention to him at all. It was as if he didn't exist.  
That is, unless he was in the way of someone, whether he realised it or not, then he'd just get roughly shoved aside, once even down some stairs. No one even bothered to see if he was alright. No one cared.  
Then there was a time that groups of bored teens had decided to pick on him. He'd defended himself, until one of them ordered him to stop it. It didn't matter who they belonged to, he had to obey. He was grateful when he spotted a Second who broke it up, but that didn't last long after he was bluntly told to stop causing trouble. Not the teens – him.  
After that, he chose to take the routes less likely to have other people on them, minimising the chances of it happening again.  
The first envelope was addressed to Sand. Well, at least it would be someone familiar, even if they wouldn't recognise him.  
True to his name, the areas Sand owned were coloured accordingly, and in places even looked like they had real sand on the floors.  
He'd never been in this part of the Arcology though, so had no idea where to look. He'd only found here by consulting maps along the way.  
Finally, he saw Rue, the only person he felt he could ask without risking something.  
"Excuse me... I've got to deliver this to Sand... could you tell me where to find him?"  
"He's with master Roxas at the moment. You'll have to look for him there."  
"Thanks."  
"You look a little roughed."  
"I got into some trouble along the way."  
Rue nodded sympathetically. "Take that corridor there," he pointed. "On the third left, there's another corridor that leads directly to Roxas' area. Safest way there."  
"Thanks again."  
"It's no problem to help a fellow first rank out," he replied, continuing on whatever task he'd been assigned to.  
It was useful to know others like him would help each other out. He felt better for knowing it.  
Sure enough, the familiar orange glow of what was until recently his area came into view. He had a fair idea of where Roxas would likely be. He'd likely try to keep thing the same way Sora had them unless it became inconvenient.  
Dog was at the door to the gardens.  
"What business do you have here?"  
"I've been sent to deliver letters to both Sand and Roxas."  
"Please show your markings." Sora did so, hoping Dog would see them and realise it was him, but his hopes fell when he said, "Wait here then Alex. I'll advise them you are here."  
Alex. Not Sora. Alex. Sephiroth had done something that overruled the normal rules that said that markings couldn't be faked. He was at the top though, so presumably he had such power.  
When Dog returned, he simply stood aside and gestured inwards without a word.  
He knew the way, and found them exactly where he'd expected them. Both looked at him wordlessly.  
Sora fumbled with the letters, picking out the two for them and handed them to each.  
"The Grandmaster sent me to give these to each of you," he told them, turning to leave.  
"Wait," Roxas called him back with a curious look. "What else have you been told to do?"  
"Nothing more than to deliver them to you, and others, master Roxas," he replied.  
"When you're done, come back here. I've got a task of my own for you."  
"Unless I am ordered otherwise, I'll do so."  
Roxas nodded, letting him leave.

Roxas watched him leave, curiosity and puzzlement clearly showing.  
"You saw something in him, didn't you?"  
"You mean you didn't?"  
"He's just another first rank Roxas," Sand shrugged. "I have trouble telling them apart if I don't know them."  
"No, he's not just another one... that was Sora."  
"What?"  
"I don't think he noticed, but I'm certain of it, that was him."  
"But he didn't look anything like him."  
"He did to me."  
"Why, though?"  
"I don't know. Sephiroth said Sora was missing, but I'm starting to get a strong smell of something fishy in the air."  
"We should have checked his markings."  
"Somehow, I think if he's doing something to stop us finding him, I don't think that would help much."  
"So why did you call him back for later?"  
"I'm still working on it, but I think Sephiroth kindly left me a loophole he doesn't know about."  
"You're as bad as Sora was. You're going to get in trouble."  
"Didn't we last night? Check your letter, I'll bet it says you're being officially reprimanded for bad conduct last night."  
"Alright, more trouble then."  
"Nothing new to me."  
"Somehow I knew you'd say that."

Sora was starting to get to grips with his situation. First rankers would help each other out, provided it didn't put them in any danger of being punished, and it didn't contradict any orders they'd been given. There was a kind of agreement between them to help each other do well. Some few of them had lightened his workload slightly by taking the letters to their own First themselves, or agreed to pass it on to someone they knew was heading in the right direction.  
Now he only had one left to deliver, addressed to Nighthawk. He remembered Seifer saying Nighthawk had been against them last night, and wondered why he – or she – would be getting one. He doubted he'd be told even if he'd asked.  
Nighthawk's rooms were almost universally dark in colours, making it hard to see far. Since all of the people here wore similarly dark colours, it was hard to tell whether there was someone around or not.  
To make matters worse, there didn't seem to be a single first rank around, nor a map, nor anyone willing to help.  
"What are you doing here?" a femenine voice demanded of him harshly.  
"I'm... lost."  
"You picked a bad place to be lost, boy. Why are you here?"  
"I have to deliver a letter."  
"To who?"  
"Nighthawk."  
"I will deliver it. You will wait here for me to return. Hand it over."  
He did so shakily, trying to conceal his nerves. She'd had a commanding tone that indicated she wouldn't tolerate any disobedience. While waiting, he tried to calm himself, wondering why she wanted him to wait.  
Then she returned without the envelope. He could still only barely see her, or rather her outline, but he could tell it was her.  
"You said you were lost."  
"Yes, I need to get back to another First who told me to meet him."  
"Which one?"  
"Roxas."  
"Very well. You'll come with me. Do not get left behind," she warned, striding off quickly. He almost had to run to keep up with her. He was half afraid she'd do something else to him, when she stopped and said, "That way will lead you directly to his area. Don't let me see you in this part of the Arcology again."  
"What if I'm ordered to?"  
"That is the exception. Now go, before I change my mind about leaving you unharmed."  
The threat in that simple statement sent him on his way instantly.

Roxas watched as not only Sora, but Sephiroth came into the gardens. No one had told him Sephiroth was here. Then again, he could tell them not to.  
"I see you've met my new first rank, Roxas," he said, joining them. "I found him a few days ago, and brought him in."  
"I met him earlier, when he left me your letter."  
"Yes, I know... little Alex here tells me you wanted to see him again?"  
Roxas realised that Sephiroth didn't know he could see Sora for himself, rather than whatever illusion he'd crafted around Sora. He decided not to show it – it might be useful for helping Sora.  
"It's nothing really. I've just got a few errands that need running, and all my people have better things to be doing."  
"Ah, of course. The first rankers are useful for such things, aren't they? I'm afraid I'm going to have to steal him back from you though."  
"Oh? What for?"  
"There's a little... medical condition he's had since before I pulled him in a few days ago. Outside, there's no cure, so I developed one, and now he's here..."  
"You can give it to him."  
"Precisely. You're much quicker than Sora, I see." Sora's face flickered annoyance at this, but he said nothing.  
Sephiroth turned to Sora, "Speaking of being quick, you need to take the next dose of it now, before your symptons return."  
"Next dose? But you haven't given me the first." Sora protested.  
"Memory troubles," Sephiroth explained to Roxas. "They crop up if he doesn't take it soon enough." He pulled out a glass and a jar, unsealing the jar and pouring some of the contents into the glass.  
Roxas tried to hide his horror. The liquid from it was dark green. The same dark green that Miasma had been trying to create a cure for.  
"Take it," Sephiroth told Sora, who sighed, then drunk it in one go, making a face at it.  
"It tastes horrible," he said after.  
"Oh, don't worry about that. It tastes better each time you take some, Alex. Run along up to my quarters and wait for me there."  
"Yes, master," he replied, though this time his voice seemed slightly different, slightly softer.  
"Are you alright Roxas?"  
"What? Yes, I'm fine, sorry... I just had a... bad premonition." It was a bad excuse, but it'd have to do.  
"I wasn't aware you got them at all."  
"Maybe it's being here doing it to me," he answered.  
"Anything I should know about?"  
"No... I think I just need to check up on some projects of mine."  
"I'll leave you to it then."  
Roxas waited until he was certain Sephiroth had left, then summoned Danny.  
"What is it with being summoned?" he asked crossly as he appeared. "It's always right when I'm trying to do something."  
"It's important."  
"Obviously."  
"You remember what I told you about Sora earlier?"  
"Of course."  
"And the drug from the plot against him?"  
"Yes, yes, of course I remember, where are you going with..." he broke off, realisation dawning, and his irritation vanishing. "Oh, no," he said in a small voice. "He's been forced to take some, hasn't he?"  
"At least once dose that I know of. Just now."  
"Miasma..."  
"Hasn't finished either cure or antidote yet. Danny..."  
"I know. We need it."  
"Keep it quiet – but let her know what's happened. Sephiroth doesn't know we know about the drug, or that I can see through the illusion everyone else sees. We can't risk tipping him off, or the same could happen to me – or all of us."  
"I'll tell her personally. Do you think...?" he left it hanging.  
"We'll get him back, and we'll undo anything this drug does to him. You've got my word on that. I'll do everything I can."  
Danny said nothing, and left.

Sora was waiting. His mind seemed to be playing tricks on him, making him question things he shouldn't have had reason to question.  
Was he Sora? Stupid question, of course he was, why else would he have memories of everyone calling him that?  
But he'd been called Alex. Why would someone call him that if he was Sora?  
No, of course he wasn't Alex. He'd never heard the name until he'd been called it. It couldn't be his name.  
It'd taste better, he'd been told. And oddly, he seemed to remember it not tasting as bad as he thought. But that was ridiculous, if it hadn't tasted bad, why would he have mentioned it?  
Sephiroth returned at that point, pausing as he passed to lift Sora's head, looking into his eyes, then continuing to sit down.  
"Good. It looks like your medication is starting to take effect. Tell me your name."  
"I think-"  
"No, not what you think. Tell me what your name is."  
"Alex." It was the one that came first to him.  
"Excellent."  
"But I remember another name..."  
"Don't worry about it. You've got memories in there that don't belong to you, Alex."  
"Why are they there?"  
"Someone put them there to make you think you were someone other than yourself."  
"They seem... like mine though."  
"They're not. I'm working on a little cure for you that will remove them, so you can be yourself again."  
"I don't remember being anyone else."  
"Of course not. Those memories you have are blocking it out."  
Sora thought for a few minutes, taking this in, then asked, "How will you cure this?"  
"I found the one they really belong to. The real Sora. He doesn't have any memories at all, because they're all locked up with you."  
"You're going to give them back."  
"That's right."  
"Do I need to do anything?"  
"Just take the medicine whenever his memories feel like they're trying to make you believe them."  
"I think I need another dose then," he replied uncertainly. Sephiroth poured one out for him. It really did taste better than the last one, but it still felt like it burned at his throat as he swallowed.  
"You're taking this rather well, Alex. Finding out you're not who you thought you were."  
"I... trust you."  
"Oh? Why?"  
"You... I... I don't... know. I just... do."  
"Interesting. Don't worry then. I'll take care of everything."  
Sora nodded. This seemed right to him. He'd have his own memories back before long.  
Sephiroth watched him for a few minutes, then got up again, beckoning for him to follow. He was lead out into the room with the lines on the floor, this time following the red lines to the door that still looked completely unremarkable.  
Sora had no idea what he was expecting to see on the other side, but it still seemed to be disappointing when it was a short corridor with seven other doors, three in recesses on either side, and one directly opposite. Each one had a guard attending it, unmoving, unemotional, just guarding.  
Sephiroth ignored them all, heading to the one opposite. With a curt gesture, the guard saluted, opened the door, and stood inside, holding it open for the two of them to enter. Once they were inside, he closed the door again, returning to his post on the other side to them.  
This room was different. Computers and other such equipment lined the walls, wheelie chairs scattered around everywhere, and monitors showing strange things all over the place. No one was around but them.  
In the centre of the room stood two pods, each filled with a light green, but clear liquid that bubbled gently. Tubes and pipes connected them to the ceiling, and cables ran over the floor to the computers.  
"This is where I will put Sora, when the time comes to give him his memories back."  
"And I'll be in the other one?"  
"No, Alex. You won't need to use these yourself."  
"Then what is the other one for?"  
"Someone else who also has the same problem as you."  
"Why are we here, then?"  
"In order to make it work correctly, the computer has to recognise your DNA. Come over here."  
They went to the other side of the pods. There was a small panel of something silver.  
"All I need from you," Sephiroth told him. "Is to put your hand in there. The computer will handle the rest."  
"That's all?"  
"That's all."  
Somewhat hesitantly, he pushed against it. It felt more like a liquid than a solid.  
He buried his hand up to the wrist in the strange silver substance. A few moments later, there was a beep, and Sephiroth nodded, letting him remove his hand again.  
"Now all that remains is short wait while I finish making the preparations. I want you to go down to the jobs board, and have them put you available for work. I'll send for you when I need you."  
"Yes master," he replied, leaving again.

Sephiroth watched Sora leave. The drug was more potent than he thought, working quicker. That was good though, it meant less delays. Sora would believe him, and go along with whatever he wanted.  
He turned back to the pod, setting a pre-set list of commands in progress.  
Before long, they'd be well on their way, not to 'fixing' the situation he'd told Sora existed, but in fact creating it. Creating a false Sora, that had all of Sora's memories, while the real one believed he was someone else.  
Of course, he wouldn't be able to just transfer the memories... some editing would be needed so the new one would be loyal to him. If he could edit them, that was. He'd have to do something, otherwise he'd just duplicate the original problem.  
More research was required. Fortunately, he had all the time he needed. Sora would keep himself busy until he sent for him. No one was allowed in here without him also being present, the guards would see to that. They were loyal to whoever held the position of Grandmaster, regardless of what the Grandmaster did.


	16. Chapter 16

Time passed, as it has a habit of doing. As Sora took more of the drug, it gained a stronger hold over him. He now firmly believed he was Alex, and that the real Sora was somewhere out there.  
Sephiroth's replacement Sora, the clone of him, was nearly fully grown, and nearly ready to take the memories. After that, it would only be a matter of time until it could be awakened, and sent into the Arcology, fully loyal to him.  
Mia's efforts had synthesised both the antidote and cure, but without Sora, there was no way to use it safely – and it had received no testing either. Sora was the only one they knew who had taken enough of it to show signs.  
Roxas, though still a reluctant First, tried to handle things. He seldom left his part of the Arcology for the work that needed to be done, and so was unable to properly lead the search for Sora. He needed someone else who shared a link with Sora – but who?  
The answer presented itself in the leader of the rogues who still worked with him. He'd never given his name – none of them had – but knew a great deal. Perhaps more than he should have. He always kept himself hidden, choosing a plain but dark robe reminiscent of the Organization ones, but without the adornments. He was tantalisingly familiar, but Roxas couldn't place why.  
"The problem is your being cooped up here all day," he told Roxas. "You haven't slept properly for days now."  
"Time enough to sleep when he's been found."  
"But no one can find him except you, and you're stuck here. Let someone else take on the search."  
"I don't have any other Nobodies here."  
"Open your eyes Rox," he replied in an exasperated tone. "You'll be surprised."  
"What do you mean?"  
He chuckled, shaking his head. "Time's dulled your edge, Roxy," he replied. "Don't you even recognise an old friend when you see one? I thought I'd give you time to see if you'd notice on your own. I guess you've been busy though," he added, pushing back the hood of the robe, revealing a wild red hairstyle. Roxas suddenly felt rather foolish for not recognising him.  
"I thought..."  
"I'd gone? It's a long story. Now, I got a plan. Got time to listen?"  
"Always, Axel."  
"It's quite simple, really. I can see the true Sora just like you can. You've got the link between him and you to locate him. So simply nick a trick from him, and share that link with me."  
"It wouldn't work. You're not technically part of the Arcology."  
"You're a First. Just give the mark and leave the rest to me.  
"Are you sure?"  
"You know me Rox. Would I be asking if I didn't think I could do it?"  
"Fair point. Guess we can give it a go."  
"On a condition."  
"Get some sleep?"  
"You're seriously short of it."  
"Oh alright then. After I've finished this heap of paperwork."

"Alex. You made it just in time."  
"In time for what, master?"  
"To see Sora. He looks a lot like you, don't you think?"  
"Almost like a twin," he answered.  
"Yes, I suppose in a way he is... he's ready to take his memories back. Are you ready?"  
"What do I have to do?"  
"The same as last time you were here. Except this time, instead of taking a sample of DNA, it'll take Sora's memories back."  
"I'm ready then."  
"You know what to do."  
"Is there any risk to me?"  
"Not one. You may feel a little light-headed afterwards. I can't be sure. I've never seen this done before, but I'll keep close watch."  
Sora nodded, safe in this knowledge, and moved to the far side of the pod his twin was in, putting his hand in the strange silvery stuff. This time there was a squat stool on the floor for him to sit on. Clearly it was going to take longer.  
Sephiroth went to one of the other panels on the pod, checked on him, then set it going. For a time, it didn't seem like anything was happening, then something clamped onto his hand, and he felt like something was draining from him.  
It was the memories, of course. He found them growing more and more vague until he only had a few fragments in his own memories left.  
The clamp on his hand let go.  
"It's done," Sephiroth confirmed. "He'll awaken soon."  
"How soon?"  
"Very soon. We should be patient and wait."  
"Master, might I return to work lower in the Arcology? I promised the person I was working for that I would return as soon as I could."  
"Of course Alex. I'll let you know if I need you. Stay out of trouble."  
"Yes master."

The clone stirred. The memories had not yet taken hold, and so it was not fully aware of who it was, only that it was.  
It felt itself suspended within a liquid by cables. How it knew this, it did not know.  
It spat out something that was in it's mouth, and tasted an unpleasant, acidic taste. The liquid and cables seemed to react, draining and retracting, lowering it to the floor of whatever they had been inside.  
For the first time ever, it opened it's eyes, and saw. It saw a smooth clear surface surrounding the top half, and an equally smooth metallic lower half, the two halves meeting to become an egg-shape. It saw it had been dressed in clothes that, like him, were now rapidly being dried.  
It leaned against the side of the pod, taking in all this. The memories began to supply information. It let them, bringing them rushing to it's mind like a floodgate released.  
Sora. He was Sora. The last thing he remembered was a chase. Who had he been running from? The memories were not yet clear, but it seemed like... Roxas. Who was Roxas? It seemed like he'd been a friend, but was now an enemy. Why had it happened? He didn't know.  
The front of the egg-shaped pod opened, letting him stumble out. He didn't recognise where he was.  
"Sora," a voice said. Sluggishly, a memory surfaced, telling him this was Sephiroth. The Grandmaster. A person to treat with respect. "I'm glad you're awake. How do you feel?"  
It took the clone a few moments to put together it's first sentence. It was all there, he knew he'd spoken before, but it was like trying it from new again.  
"Feeling... fine. A little weak."  
"Surprisingly good condition for someone who almost died."  
"Died?" he echoed weakly. Sephiroth nodded.  
"Roxas had a lot of people after you. It was only be sheer luck you were saved from a certain death because of them."  
"Why would he do this?"  
"I don't know. And right now, you're too weak to do anything to find out. I want you to stay with me until you regain your strength."  
"A good plan," he murmured, stumbling to a chair, and falling both into it, and a natural sleep.

"That's odd," Axel muttered to himself, frowning. "Roxas, are you sure this link is working?"  
"Of course I am," his voice replied. "You know we tested it carefully."  
"Well why am I now sensing two Soras?"  
"What? That's impossible!"  
"Check for yourself, Rox."  
There was a brief pause, then, "Absolutely impossible!"  
"Well obviously it isn't impossible, this is proof of it."  
"There's got to be some mistake."  
"Are you even listening to me?"  
"Of course I am," he replied irritably. "Bring me one of them. We'll figure it out from there."  
"You think I wasn't going to?"  
"Sorry. It's gotten to be a habit lately."  
"No worries Roxy. We'll have it sorted you go back to worrying about all that paper."  
"Thanks," he replied dryly.  
The nearest of the two was the one he'd been following anyway, and had been heading toward him the whole time. He had made sure he'd intercept this one before the appearance of the second.  
When he was certain of the route this Sora was going to take, he quite casually leaned against one wall just around the corner from him.  
The person who turned the corner definitely was Sora, there was no doubting that. There was something else though, an illusion just hovering on the edge of his awareness, trying to make him see an unremarkable boy instead.  
More unusual though was the look on Sora's face – it was calm, trusting, and completely out of place. It didn't look like him at all.  
He caught Axel's look, and asked, "Can I help you with something master?"  
"Are you busy at all?"  
"Only returning to complete a task I was set."  
"What task?"  
"The First Sand has asked me to go to his daughter, and take something from her to master Roxas."  
"Would you mind a little company? Roxas wants me to keep an eye on you."  
"Whatever you wish," he replied. The voice was definitely Sora's, but like the expression, the tone and inflections were completely out of place. "May I know your name?"  
"I'm Axel. Maybe you know me?"  
"I don't believe so."  
"I'm sure we've met before," he insisted, but Sora shook his head.  
"I've no memory of you, master Axel. Perhaps it is my twin-" he broke off, looking ashamed. "Forget I mentioned that."  
"But..."  
"I do not think I should have said anything about it."  
"Interesting," he muttered, following him into the distinctive sand-coloured areas. "Roxas," he thought to himself.  
"Axel?"  
"Of course it's me. I've found one of them. He matches what you were telling me, but he claims to have no memory of me, he sounds a little off, and he just slipped and mentioned something about a twin."  
"A twin? Sora doesn't have a twin, unless I count."  
"That's what I thought too. I'm sticking with him until he's finished what he's doing. We'll be coming to you anyway."  
"Keep talking to him – see if you can make him slip again."  
"I'll try Roxy, but I don't think he'll make that mistake again." Then out loud to Sora, "I don't suppose you know anything about someone named Sora?"  
He looked troubled, and said nothing for some time. When he finally spoke, it was in the manner of one clearly hiding something. "I understand he is missing somewhere in the Arcology, and that there are people searching for him. I'm not permitted to say any more."  
"So you know otherwise, but can't say? What if I or Rox told you to tell us?"  
"Your orders cannot override the orders I'm following, and neither can his."  
"The Grandmaster, I assume?"  
"How do you know of him?"  
Axel shrugged, "I've heard of him. Where is it you're meant to be going?"  
" I'm not allowed to say. It's to be kept between mistress Miasma and master Roxas."  
"You know I'm one of Roxas' people?"  
"That doesn't give you an exemption," he replied patiently. "You'll have to wait here," he told Axel, coming to stop outside a guarded room. "No one without permission is allowed inside."  
"That's alright. I'll wait. Just make sure you don't go sneaking off without me."  
"Would I do a thing like that?" he replied, his expression the very picture of innocence. Axel couldn't help but grin at that.  
When he returned, he was carrying a box with various assorted jars in, and said very little, except to ask Axel to protect him while on their way to Roxas. Axel didn't fully understand why he'd need to, until a small group of boys saw them pass.  
"Look there," one called.  
"It's that kid from earlier!"  
"Let's get him!" another shouted.  
Sora's expression was troubled. "Axel-"  
"I know," he muttered. "Leave it to me."  
In the middle of their running over to meet him, Axel raised one hand just slightly, and a wall of fire suddenly sprung up in front of the boys. Axel himself pretended not to have seen them at all, and continued to walk along with Sora.  
The wall, however, was only a single short piece, so the boys attempted to go around it. The wall appeared to have other ideas, extending apparently on it's own. They didn't even notice it's slight angle inwards until it had completely encircled them.  
"Having fun?" Axel asked pleasantly, now leaning on a nearby tree. "You look a little hot under the collar."  
"Let us go!"  
"And let you attack a harmless boy merely running an errand? I think you need a lesson in humility."  
"He's a first rank – who cares about them?"  
"Would you care about him more if you knew he was carrying a medicine to save the life of a First?"  
"Who?"  
"Sora, naturally."  
"Sora's been missing for months."  
"True. But Roxas believes he's found a way to locate him in short order, and I trust him on that. Now think – what if Sora came back, and found out what you'd done to one of his first ranked people?"  
Their eyes grew faintly afraid. One of them tried to hide it. "I'm not afraid of Sora," he stated.  
"Oh no? You should be. I promise you whatever I do to you is very gentle in comparison to what he'll do." He paused. "Well... as gentle as fire can be, of course," he amended. "Do you like fire? I've always had a thing for it myself... some people call me a pyromaniac, do you know that?" Axel grinned broadly, making certain the fire he'd created was reflected in his eyes, and removing some of the fire behind them, giving them an escape route.  
One of them caught on, tugging on the arm of another. "Come on. Before he starts on us. It's not worth staying."  
Axel watched them leave, putting out the fire and humming tunelessly to himself as he and Sora continued.  
"Thanks," Sora said eventually, after a long silence.  
"I don't like people who try to attack the weak or helpless. Besides, it was fun."  
"Why didn't the fire set anything else on fire?"  
"It was never really there. It just looked, sounded and felt like it was."  
"What would have happened if they had tried to walk through it?"  
"Oh, I'd have made certain they'd get burnt just as if it was a real fire. Can't have people just ignoring my illusions now, can I? This looks like the place we're meant to be."  
"Do you know where he'll be right now?"  
"Probably in the gardens. I don't see why he insists on working there myself."  
"Perhaps he likes it?"  
"More like Sora did it, so I'm going to," Roxas replied, opening the door.  
"You've got good timing Roxy."  
"I felt you coming. Come on in, both of you."

The cloned Sora woke up. Again. He felt better this time, as if he'd needed the sleep. His memories seemed clearer to him as well, but he still couldn't explain why Roxas had turned on him. Or why he remembered having something against Sephiroth. The latter could wait until he'd seen to Roxas.  
He was in Sephiroth's quarters again, and found Sephiroth sat writing at his desk.  
He glanced up, hearing Sora sitting up. "Ah, you're awake."  
"I should go."  
"So soon?"  
"I'm missing, remember? I have to get back."  
"That's true, but you're not back at full strength yet."  
"Let me leave. I have to see Roxas."  
"Ah, I rather thought it might be that. Very well. But watch yourself – he may try to lie to you. Informants suspect he's got some kind of plan to claim there's another Sora that's the real one."  
"I'll get to the bottom of it."  
"I'm sure I can count on you to do what's right."  
"So I can go?"  
"Go on. I'll expect to find out exactly what happens direct from you afterwards."  
"I'll remember."

"But that doesn't match!" Sora protested. "He told me I wasn't the real Sora."  
"He was lying to you. I can tell for certain you're Sora."  
"I don't believe you."  
Roxas sighed. He had a feeling this would happen. He took one of the carefully labelled jars Sora had brought from Miasma, and poured it into a glass, adding water.  
"Here. Drink it."  
"Why?"  
"Because it'll sort your belief problem. And because I'll order you to if you don't."  
They watched in silence. Roxas took Axel aside.  
"Did Miasma tell you how long it'd take before it took effect?"  
"They wouldn't let me into the room at all. He went in, then a bit later, came out with that tray. What did you give him?"  
"The cure." On the other side of the room, Sora slumped into sleep. "I think I'm going to have to poke about in what he thinks are his memories and see what I can find."  
"Be careful Roxas. The mind's a fragile place to be messing around."  
"I know, don't lecture me. It's not like I have much choice though."  
Axel grinned slyly at him. "Sure you wouldn't like to keep him the way he is, and keep the position for yourself?"  
Roxas shuddered. "I have no idea how he managed it. There's too much to worry about. He's welcome to having it back."  
"Well, soon you'll be able to-" he broke off, looking up sharply.  
"What?"  
"The other Sora just ported down to this floor. He's on the far side, but heading this way. I'm getting a strongly malevolent feeling from him, Roxy."  
"Keep an eye on him for me... I don't want to be disturbed until I'm done."  
"I'll see to it."  
It took Roxas only a few moments to realise what had happened. The memories he had were his, but his real memories were missing – taken from him, it seemed. Even if he erased these new memories, it wouldn't solve the problem.  
Presumably, the 'twin' he'd mentioned to Axel had them. And that twin was on the way here, and if Axel was right, he wasn't happy. Who knew what Sephiroth had put into his mind?  
The door opened. That is to say, the door burst, flinging bits of it over the floor, including Axel and a second rank, and Sora came through the wrecked remains.  
"There you are." Roxas kept calm. "I was wondering when you'd show up."  
"Why did you do it?"  
"That depends on what you think I've done."  
"You set those people after me."  
"Did I now? As I recall, I was trying to save your life."  
"Lies."  
"No, Sora. The truth. Plain and unchanged. Which is more than I can say for you."  
"What's that meant to mean?"  
"I think you'll find that your memories have been altered. What I don't know, is how you came to exist, since I think you'll find that boy in the chair there, is the real Sora. I'd know, I can tell you're both Sora – but he has something you don't have."  
"What's that?"  
"The mark of a Keyblade Master. Try it – you can't summon your keyblade, because it's not yours."  
A part of his apparent anger faded slightly when he realised Roxas was right, but it soon flared back.  
"I don't need it to take my place back from you."  
"You never held any place here until you were created." He pointed at the still comatose Sora. "He did, and he will again."  
His reply was lost in a flare of fire. It never reached Roxas, instead curling into a ball, and fading out. They both glanced over at Axel, who was leaning against a tree, bouncing a small fireball on one hand.  
"Don't mind me. I'm just stealing all the fire before you burn anything. Wouldn't want you to set the entire room on fire, would we?"  
Roxas took the distraction as an opportunity, delivering a stunning blow to the side of the twin's head with one fist. It wasn't enough to knock him out, but it got them started. He didn't really want to fight, but it was the quickest way to sort it, and probably the best too, he reasoned.  
The twin knew Roxas as well as Sora did, however, matching blow for blow, move for move. They were too evenly matched.  
At one point, they paused, breathing hard for a brief break. A voice got their attention.  
"Um, excuse me?" It was Sora. "I don't suppose either of you know who I am? Or why I'm here?"  
"I'm working on it," Roxas replied, once again using the distraction to launch another attack. This time, the twin succumbed to unconsciousness. "I hate doing that to people," he muttered.  
"You mean you meant to do that?"  
"Of course I did. He wasn't going to listen to me, and I can't work with him if he won't cooperate. Give me a hand dragging him to that chair."  
Sora watched them pull him over with faint curiosity, until Roxas sighed, then put him back to sleep with a few thoughts.  
"Was that really necessary?" Axel asked.  
"Think about it. He has no memories, now I took away the ones 'Alex' had. He has no idea what anything is at all. Do you really want him sitting around asking questions about everything?"  
"I thought you just wanted an excuse to knock him out again."  
"Maybe there's a few times he might have needed it before. Let me work on this."  
"What are you going to do with the twin?"  
"I think I'm going to give him all the Alex ones, and transfer all of the things to do with Alex to him."  
"Why?"  
"I've got a plan."  
"Oh dear."  
"What?"  
"Your plans here haven't exactly gone... well, to plan, Rox."  
"This one will."  
Several hours later, Roxas finally left the two twins, and slumped into a chair, obviously weary.  
"Well?" Axel asked.  
"It's sorted. I managed to remove most of Sephiroth's alterations as well. I don't know what'll happen next. I'm hoping Sora wakes up realising he's who he really is, so I can confront Sephiroth."  
"You're as bad as Sora for doing that."  
"Maybe he had the right idea. I don't like some of the things that have happened here since he came to power."  
"How did you find out about them?"  
"Seifer. Somehow, he's been able to find out more than anyone else about the Upper Management without getting found out."  
"That's my department," someone else said, stepping from the shadows.  
"I know you," Roxas said. "Sora mentioned me to you. You're one of the Council-"  
"Please," she held up a hand. "Don't talk about it. You've no idea how much trouble I could get in for being down here right now. Sephiroth doesn't know what you've done yet, but he'll catch on the moment he sees the clone of Sora."  
"That's alright. I don't need him to see him."  
"What do you have in mind?"  
"Oh, that's quite simple," Roxas replied with an evil looking smirk. "Sephiroth left a loophole – if Sora is found, he gets his place as First back. Like all Nobodies, I can see Sora for who he really is."  
"So since you've found him, you'll be able to get that place back for him, and he won't even be able to do anything about it, or he'll expose himself."  
"No doubt as soon as Sora gets out of being a first rank, he'll do that himself anyway."  
"And what of the clone?"  
"I left him everything that Sora had when he thought he was Alex, and made him a first rank. I needed another one around anyway."  
"It seems I came down all this way only to find I didn't need to," she said wryly. "You've got it all planned already."  
"What were you thinking of doing?"  
"Oh, never mind that. You plan works far better than mine. You'll need this though," she added, handing him a key. "It unlocks the panel for the four hidden floors – the ones normal people aren't allowed access to. You want button three. It'll take you to the topmost floor, where the Council chambers and the Grandmaster's Quarters are."  
"Thanks. I didn't know I'd need it."  
"Don't mention it. I mean that. Good luck with your plan," she told them, then vanished again.


	17. Chapter 17

Sephiroth had little to do but wait, now that the plan was going the way he wanted. His Sora would take the real one's place, the real Sora would live out his life believing he was the otherwise non-existent Alex, and Roxas... well, he had a backup plan just in case.  
The entire Arcology, once again entirly under his control. Oh, maybe a few troublesome Firsts like Sand poking around, and other such loose ends, but they were hardly a threat. Sora had been the last major threat to him.  
It was nice to know an evil plan had come together. There was no other word for it, evil was definitely the one.  
The doors to his room opened, and the real Sora entered. Naturally still dressed in the plain white clothing he'd given him, and the collar there. The expression was carefully blank. Almost as if it was deliberately there, but... no, 'Alex' wouldn't have a reason to do anything like that. There was a nagging feeling something wasn't quite right, however. A bad feeling. And his bad feelings usually turned out to be right.  
"Master," Sora told him, an almost imperceptible edge in his tone as he said it, "Roxas wishes to speak with you. He says it is important, and has to do with Sora. He also requests I be present."  
"Did he explain why?"  
"He did not see fit to take me into his confidence on the matter."  
"I see. Bring him in then."  
Sora nodded, heading back to the door, then leading Roxas back in, standing off to one side.  
"Roxas. This is unexpected."  
"Refresh my memory a moment please, Grandmaster. When I last came here, it was because of Sora's disappearance, and you said, if he were found, he'd have his place back, correct?"  
"Of course."  
"Good. There'll be no contesting that point then. Do you know, just one hour ago, I was visited by someone who claimed to be Sora?"  
"Really?"  
"Yes. A clone. Genetically identical – but lacking several key things. No keyblade, and no link to me."  
"How curious. Who could have done it?"  
"I don't know yet. But I'll handle that in a moment. Tell me something else... what do you know of how Nobodies see?"  
"I assume the same way as everyone else."  
"Not quite. We see things the way they really are. Illusions have no effect on us." Roxas paused. Sephiroth showed no sign of it, but he realised where the bad feeling was coming from. "Other people," Roxas continued, "when they look at our friend here, see a mere first rank named Alex. Alex, who is merely an illusion, created by you, to prevent anyone from hiding Sora. Now, as I seem to have found him... you'll grant his position back. Just like you agreed, and with no argument. After all... surely the Grandmaster can be trusted to keep to his word."  
"Very well," he hissed, after a long silence. "I will keep to the agreement. Sora, you're freed from all restrictions placed on you since I made you a first rank."  
"And?" Roxas prompted.  
"And you have your old place as First back."  
Sora's expression hardened, his eyes taking on the pure black of a First as the collar vanished. Roxas' eyes returned to normal, his marking for being a fifth rank under Sora returning as well.  
With a snap of his fingers, Sora's clothing changed, returning to his favoured look, the same as he'd worn when he first arrived. The keyblade returned to his hand in an instant, as if it had never left.  
"Oh, by the way. Before Sora does anything else... I thought you'd like to know. I already know you're responsible for the clone's existance too. Did you know clones don't last very long?"  
"What do you mean?"  
"You accellerated it's growth so he'd match Sora in appearance, but failed to take into account any other effects. Right now, it's just a pile of dust in a jar with some unusual properties. Hold on a moment..." he fished around in the robe, then pulled out a jar with grey powder in. "Here he is. Your clone's remains. Now excuse me... I'm going to step clear of what happens next."  
Sephiroth stood, as if to go after him, but found Sora blocking his path.  
"Where do you think you're going?" he asked in a dreadfully quiet tone. He didn't even have to look at Sora to know he was back at full strength already, no doubt with more from having it pent up for so long.  
"Stand aside, Sora."  
"No."  
"I'm ordering you."  
"Are you now?" he asked brightly, a vicious grin growing. "You? You're ordering me around? Roxas, are we live?"  
"Going live now," Roxas responded. "The entire Arcology will hear. Go ahead."  
"Perfect. Grandmaster Sephiroth, ruler of the Dark Arcology... I was going to list everything wrong with you, but we'd still be here in a week's time, so let's leave it that I don't like you, and I don't think you're in the right place."  
"And where would the right place be, Sora?" he asked.  
"At the bottom. Where you put me, so I couldn't speak out against you. Did you know, in the history of this Arcology, it was originally created only to seek out and guard against artefacts of power, to prevent their misuse? Under Grandmasters since then, it's gone a long way from that course."  
"It's still done."  
"Oh, of course. But it's still deviated from that, and it deviated most under you. One artefact, but nearly four hundred people taken, and almost all of them are still first ranks. Why is that, Sephiroth? The guidelines – the original ones, before you mutilated them and twisted them to what you wanted – say that no one should be a first rank for more than one year. You've been here for longer than that."  
"So what? I'm the Grandmaster, and that makes this my Arcology to do with as I please."  
"No longer. I won't let you do it any more."  
"Just how do you plan to stop me?"  
"By removing you from power. I will take your place, and I will put this Arcology on the right course. On a better course, and one where everyone will benefit."  
"Are you challenging me, boy?"  
Sora didn't answer immediately, instead delivering a powerful blow to Sephiroth, knocking him to the floor.  
"Sora," he told him. "Not boy, Sora. I have a name, and you _will_ use it."  
"Is that so? May the best man... if there is such a thing, win," he replied, his own blade, Masamune, appearing in his own hand.  
The two went at each other almost immediately, keyblade meeting Masamune almost continually. Sora let his fury fuel his power, giving him the boost to speed and power that made him match, then more than match Sephiroth's skill. The angry ring of blade on blade filled the air, only to be drowned out by the massive outbursts of power they were hurling at each other, distorting the air as fire blazed around one, only to be put out by a torrent of water from the other, water frozen and blasted back again, to be melted by fire, and repeating.  
Roxas, ensuring he was clear, no longer sent what could be heard, but thanks to the help of others around the Arcology, was broadcasting a live image to all parts of the Arcology. For the first time ever, the entire Arcology and everyone in it stopped, watching the two battle it out.  
Sora blocked and parried every attack Sephiroth made with an agility he'd never had before, but made full use of now, then counterattacked with every bit of power he had in him.  
Sephiroth's mastery of the sword still managed to break through the defences he had in place, but he couldn't keep up with the speed.  
Eventualy, their power ran out, exhausted by their near continual use of it. Without the boosts he'd gained from it, Sora was outmatched. He had a trick up his sleeve though. He nodded once to Roxas, who returned it, concentrating.  
Within moments, he knew it had worked. Everyone who was on their side supplied their power to their Firsts, who in turn sent it to Roxas, who amplified it as much as he could, and sent it on to Sora. The torrent of new power flooding in was like a second burst of energy, and a nasty surprise to Sephiroth, who hadn't counted on it.  
Now Sora went all out on the attack, he had power where Sephiroth didn't. Master swordsman or not, even he couldn't stand before the assault.  
With a final blow, he simoultaneously disarmed him, Masamune embedding itself in a bookcase almost fuly up to the hilt, while Sephiroth himself was pinned to the floor.  
"Give up, Sephiroth. Admit defeat, and I'll let you go with the same you left me with."  
"Being a first rank? Oh, no Sora. You can't do that."  
"I can, and I will."  
"No, you can't. There is only one way to become Grandmaster, and that is for the previous one... to be dead. You'll have to kill me, Sora. Can you do that?" Sora hesitated. Sephiroth continued on, "You're too good for your own good. Always trying to do good, but here... if you want to do good, you first have to do evil by killing me. You won't do that. I know you. There's no evil in you."  
There was a long silence, then finally, Sora replied. "There's evil in everyone. There's good in everyone. There always is. Everyone does good things, everyone does evil things, no matter how much of either there are. If that means I have to commit an act of evil to do good..."  
"No... you wouldn't!"  
"Wouldn't I?"  
"You're bluffing!"  
Sora thrust the keyblade, then leaned down. "I never bluff," he murmured. "If there is an afterlife for you... watch what I do, and learn how it's meant to be done by someone better than you. This is _my_ Arcology now, and there's no place in it for you any more."  
Sephiroth was speechless, unbelieving. Sora had actually done it. He gave one final sigh, then lay back, limply.  
Sora cleaned off the keyblade, turning to Roxas.  
"Have arrangements made to deal with his body. Then go to the council and advisors. Tell them what's happened."  
"At once, Grandmaster Sora."

Much later, after the formalities had been dealt with, he stood at the windows to the Grandmaster's Quarters, now his Quarters. With Sephiroth's demise, they'd returned to showing the roiling black clouds and sparks that continually surrounded the uppermost floors of the Arcology.  
"Watch me, Sephiroth," he murmured to himself. "Watch me, and learn how you become Master of the Dark."


	18. Epilogue

Danny glanced up, seeing Roxas join him. He picked out one of the ice-creams – sea salt flavoured, of course – and two cups of coffee, joining him at a table.  
"Been busy?" he asked, handing him the ice-cream.  
"You've no idea. Sora's shaking up everything up there. I think he's planning on going from top to bottom and changing everything."  
"I've heard some rumours, but nothing definite. Care to fill me in?"  
"You, Danny? Not knowing?"  
"Got to get the gossip from somewhere, haven't I?"  
"Let's see... the two Advisors lost their positions. He apparently interviewed them, and found they didn't qualify, much to their chagrin. I've got one of the positions."  
"What about the other?"  
"You remember that woman from the Council who lent a hand from time to time?"  
"Of course."  
"Her name's Sab, and she's the other one."  
"Interesting. What happened to the ex-advisors?"  
"They're both down with the Authoritors now. Our friend Karen has taken the vacant council position after Sab took the advisor one. Some of the other members went up in flames over that, saying he was picking out only people he liked, until he snapped on them, told them that if they didn't like his way of doing it, they could get out of his Arcology, and lose everything they have here. They stopped arguing after that."  
"Attached to their power much?"  
"Most of them inherited it. How's Axel?" he asked suddenly.  
"I'd stay clear of him for a bit longer, if I were you. He's been irritable ever since you left him as our First."  
"That was Sora's idea, actually. What happened to Jamie? I've not been able to find out anything about him."  
"Oh, he's gone over to working for Swordsman. Apparentlly Swordsman was impressed with his skill with that spear, so he's finally branching out into other weaponry."  
"Probably about time too."  
"Yeah, they're practicing on any Heartless they can find."  
"At least it's something useful to do. Maybe he'll find his complete being, and reunite with him."  
"About that, what are you and Sora planning on doing?"  
"We're holding off on it for now. Having the two of us around instead of just him is proving more useful. Besides, Sora owes me a favour."  
"Since when?"  
"Since I came up with most of his plan for him. If I hadn't thought it up, he'd never have beaten Sephiroth."  
"Whatever happened to him, by the way?"  
"Seph? He got given a burial by the council, and his statue up in that huge hall got moved with all the other past Grandmasters." He gave a short laugh. "The sculptor's having a bit of trouble with Sora's one – apparently Sora doesn't look commanding enough for his tastes."  
"It has to do with the untidy hair, I think," Sora told them, appearing nearby. "Mind if I join you?"  
"We can hardly say no, can we?"  
"It's Danny's café. He can kick me out if he wants. I might have something to say about it if he does though."  
"Don't worry, Sora," Danny told him. "I don't think I'll have any reason to do that."  
"I'm not the one who needs to worry about it."  
"What brings you down to the level of us mere mortals, then?"  
"What else? A break from the paperwork. The council's delighting in passing everything right up to me. My new advisors-" he glanced at Roxas, "Are meant to be filtering out most of the stuff that doesn't need my attention. Even then, I'm still getting a lot."  
"And you wanted to be Grandmaster so badly," Roxas commented.  
"No, not really, I just didn't have much choice. It was either him or me, and at least I can do better than he did."  
"Hand it over to someone else?"  
"There's no one I trust more to do it. I'd rather do it personally and know it's going the way I want it to, than trust someone else to do it."  
"I don't suppose you'd care to enlighten me on a few things to come?" Danny asked.  
"Like what?"  
"Like the kinds of changes you're likely to make down here?"  
"Wait and see," Sora grinned. "When I'm through, things will be better for everyone. Trust me on that."  
"You know, I always get nervous when he tells me that," Roxas told Danny. "I think it has to do with the fact I actually do trust him."

* * *

Author's Note:

And here we reach the end of this tale. Will there be another one after this? Right now, no one knows. It's a possibility, however, but I've got other stories to finish writing first. In the mean time, I hope you've enjoyed reading this one, as much as I did writing it - if not more.


End file.
